


Once More With Feeling

by JuggernautCosmos



Series: Morning Coffee [2]
Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Depression, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-05-16 23:28:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 52,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14820944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuggernautCosmos/pseuds/JuggernautCosmos
Summary: Craig had been looking forward to repairing his relationship with Mat, when the latter suddenly vanishes. The rest of the neighborhood gets involved and the situation seems to be under control. But as time passes, things start to crop up and now Craig isn't so sure everything is as it seems. He starts to poke around, unaware that there's much more to Mat's disappearance than he originally thought. Hold on tight kids, it's gonna get weird.SEQUEL TO SPEED UP, SLOW DOWN





	1. All Downhill From Here

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! It's been a little bit of time, huh? Anyway, here's the sequel to my other fic "Speed Up, Slow Down". If you haven't read the previous one, I don't think it would be too bad to go ahead with this one. I'll definitely reference it, but I think this could maybe stand on it's own? I dunno, you do you my friends. I hope you enjoy!

“Thanks for inviting me out” Mat said, giving Craig a genuine smile. “It was really nice talking to you again and spending time together.”  
  
“Thanks for taking me up on my offer” Craig said with a chuckle. “I hope … we can do it again soon?”  
  
“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” Mat wasn’t sure why he had the sudden urge, but he allowed himself to lean in for a hug, wrapping his arms loosely around Craig’s waist. Craig stiffened, unsure of what to do before gingerly returning the hug. It was warm and soothing, just as they had both remembered and Mat had to use all of his will power to eventually let go.  
  
“I’ll uh … I’ll talk to you later?” Craig asked, obviously flustered from the unexpected contact.  
  
“Y-Yeah” Mat said, equally surprised. Their goodbyes were quick and Mat waited for Craig to step back into his house before heading off himself. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he did his best to retain the heat from Craig, but the wind had managed to wipe most of it away by the time he reached his house again.  
  
_It’s alright, you’ll get another chance to feel it again_ , He reassured himself. Pausing at his door, he took one last look over at the Cahn household. A familiar feeling crept up in his chest and for the first time in almost a year, Mat was beginning to feel happy once more.  
  
He sighed, content with the night. Pulling out his keys, he had only just found the one for the front door when a fistful of his hair was suddenly grabbed from behind. Dropping his keys, his head was yanked backwards painfully, his neck straining from the overextended angle. He only had a moment to feel the pain however, when he was forced forward, his head slamming against the wall with a loud cracking noise.

The impact left Mat dizzy and he could definitely feel an injury to his forehead from the jagged brick wall. He reached back, trying to pry gloved fingers out of his locks. They reacted by pulling his head back again and slamming him against the wall one final time.

Mat nearly blacked out from the last impact, slumping to the ground. His limbs became too heavy to lift on his own, but they found movement anyway as a pair of hands manipulated his body. With an almost leisurely pace, his arms were tied behind his back and whatever vision he was getting back was cut off with a thick blindfold. He groaned audibly as the pain from his head suddenly registered in his mind and his skin prickled as he felt the warmth of his blood trail down his cheek.

He lay there for a moment, restrained and his face throbbing with pain. The rain picked up again, and he shivered as the cold droplets of water splattered against exposed skin. Without warning, he was hoisted up on his feet. He stumbled, leaning against whoever was holding him steady. Resting his forehead on the crook of their neck, he could hear them chuckle deeply in his ear.

“I hope that walk was worth it.”

“W-What …” he slurred, his mind working at a slow pace. He got no answer and instead was pushed to start walking in a direction, a tight grip on his upper arm. He almost tripped a couple times over his own feet, but he managed to keep his momentum forward. He could feel himself gaining more control of his body with each step, but a harsh tug at his arm stopped him in his tracks. He listened carefully, his focus returning, and he could hear the sound of a car door opening. He was then shoved unceremoniously inside, his body falling on something that definitely wasn’t a car seat.

“Ow, fuck, get off” a voice said gruffly, trying to push Mat away with what felt like a leather clad shoulder. He tried moving a bit, his nose picking up on a harsh, yet familiar scent of cologne.

“R-Robert?” he asked. The body underneath him stopped struggling and Mat could feel him tense up slightly.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake …” Robert growled. The two struggled for a moment before Mat managed to get off of him and moved away from him, the car already in motion. “What the fuck is this?” Robert spat. The driver chuckled.

“You’ll see ~”

“I swear Joseph, when I get out of whatever the fuck this is, I will -”

“You won’t. I promise you that.”

The car ride was smooth, none of them talking for the rest of the duration. Every now and again, Mat could hear Robert huffing angrily with a few muttered expletives. Joseph didn’t seem to notice or care, which made Mat all the more anxious. Finally, the car jerked to a stop and Mat could feel his chest tighten from dread.

_What’s going on? Why is Robert here? What the hell is Joseph up to?_

He could hear Joseph’s car door open, close, then the one nearest Robert open. “G-Get off me you salty cock!” Robert snarled, kicking his feet erratically as Joseph grunted. It took a moment, but he could eventually feel Robert get pulled out of the car and fall heavily onto the ground, followed by the door slamming shut. The car shook briefly from the force, but soon everything settled. Mat was alone and all he could really hear was his heartbeat hammering in his ears. He blinked a few times, feeling something warm soak through his blindfold and stick against his eyelid. He moved to rub his face against his shoulder when a jolt of pain reminded him of his head wound; it was definitely blood all over his face then.

_I have to get out of here._

Adrenaline now coursing through his body, he wiggled his arms. From what he could tell, they were bound by rope and no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t loosen. Luckily, he was only bound at the wrist, so his hands had free motion. Sitting up as straight as he could, he searched behind him, trying to find anything that may have been left behind on the seat to help him escape. It was a flimsy hope, but hope nonetheless. Digging his fingers in between the seat cushions, he came across something with a hard edge.

After a few more agonizing seconds, he managed to get a grip on the object and pulled it out. Carefully, he felt the object, able to decipher a handle of some kind. It was small though, so nothing really came to mind at first. He attempted to feel the length of the object when his finger grazed an area that felt sharp and cold. He sucked in a hopeful breath.

_Is … is this a knife!?_

Carefully, he felt the blade and confirmed his suspicions. At first, he wasn’t sure what it was doing in the back of Joseph’s car. Then he remembered that Robert had been there as well. If that man was known for anything, it was having a knife on him at all times.

_I guess it must have fallen out of his pocket somehow._

Deciding not to mingle, he now had to figure out what to do. He knew he was running out of time, so there wasn’t much he could do by way of setting himself free before Joseph came back. He would have barely angled the knife in a way that wouldn't result in slicing his own skin before being interrupted and he wasn’t in any position to use it as an effective weapon if it came to that. Maybe if he could hide it somehow and use it at a later time …

_How do I hide it though? Oh wait, maybe it’s … ?_

He fiddled with the knife and sure enough, he found a small button on the handle; it was a switchblade. Trying his best to visualize how it looked, he only managed to get it securely sheathed before he could hear the sound of wet footsteps approaching the car. Mat panicked and hid the switchblade in his back pocket, thankful he didn’t accidentally stab himself. The door directly next to him opened and even though he knew it was coming, he still flinched.

A silent moment passed between Mat and who he assumed was Joseph. His throat tightened; did Joseph see what Mat was doing? Was the knife planted there on purpose?

He tried his best not to appear guilty, opting to just shrink away from the chilly wind that wafted around him from the open door. A hand gripped Mat’s upper arm and tugged him gently. At first, Mat instinctively resisted and Joseph chuckled.

“Come on, don’t make this hard” he could hear Joseph say in a tone so calm, it sent a shiver down his spine. With no other option, Mat reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled out of the car and into the heavy rain. He stumbled a bit, his body still aching from the assault. He wanted to be surprised that Joseph would do something vicious like this, he really did.

_Somehow this feels on brand to his character …_

Their walk through the rain was quick as they moved into a much drier place. He didn’t pay much attention to this transition though, focusing only on the knife in his back pocket. Joseph was walking fairly close to him on the side it was being kept and Mat just prayed he didn’t make it obvious that he was hiding a means of escape.

The two walked for just a bit before Joseph helped him down a particularly long and rickety set of stairs, eventually entering a place that was much quieter than where they were before. Mat’s footsteps almost echoed as he walked, and he could feel the air grow much cooler and much more still. He shivered, his damp clothes sticking to him.

He was suddenly stopped by Joseph, maneuvered around and roughly pushed down on some kind of seat. His blindfold was removed and he was finally free to look around.

He blinked a bit and at first he could only concentrate on the pounding in his head. But he eventually took in his surroundings. It looked sterile and empty, like any unused basement did, with very few decorations or furniture. He was sat on a worn out couch, Robert sitting quietly to his right. Joseph stood in front of them both, smiling his usual smile. “Welcome to my basement” Joseph said happily. “This is going to be your home for a while.”

A beat of dead silence followed.

 _What the fuck,_ Mat thought.

“What the fuck!” Robert spat, almost growling at Joseph’s words. “What is with all this?! Is this seriously happening right now?!”

“Oh yes!” Joseph replied. Smile still in place, he moved to where a chest was waiting for him. He swung it open, its hinges creaking loudly. Rummaging through it for a moment, he pulled out two sets of restraints, immediately alarming both Mat and Robert. “Of course, it would be incriminating if either of you decided to try and escape” he continued, approaching Mat first. “So I have to make sure you stay put, even when I’m not here.” He crouched down, binding Mat’s ankles together. Mat wanted so badly to just kick Joseph directly in the face, but he knew he wouldn’t have the courage to give it any real force. Joseph would probably just get angry, grab the switchblade from his pocket and stab him with it while Robert was forced to watch him die slowly.

Well, maybe that was a little dramatic.

Once Mat was secured, Joseph moved on to Robert. After being as difficult as possible, Robert was finally restrained. Joseph stood up straight, admiring his work with a gleeful smile. “Lovely!” he declared. Dusting off his hands for no particular reason other than to create some drama, he pulled up a chair from a lone desk and sat comfortably across from the other two. “So”, he continued, as if this was a completely normal conversation. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you here today.”

“If yer gonna kill us, just do it already” Robert snapped. “Stop with all this theatrical business.”

Joseph gasped in surprise, putting his hand over his heart. “Goodness no, I would never want to hurt you. It’s not in my nature.”

Robert jerked his head towards Mat, who refused to engage in the conversation. “The fuck you call that then?! Or did he crack his skull all on his own when ya kidnapped him?” Joseph’s gaze fell on Mat’s face, which was partially caked in blood.

“Hm …” Joseph said thoughtfully, his eyes boring uncomfortably onto Mat. “I’d call that collateral damage. It wasn’t under my control.”

“Bullshit!”

“Listen, that’s not important right now” Joseph continued, holding up his hand to silence Robert. “What is important right now is the reason why you’re both here. Can we agree on that?”

Mat was the only one to nod.

Joseph straightened up, his smile returning. “Now, to begin, I’d like to point out that this wasn’t initially my idea.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “I guess that make sense. You don’t have the brain cells to come up with something elaborate like this.”

“You didn’t have the brain cells to figure out I wasn’t actually visiting you for a little bondage session” Joseph shot back, Robert gasping dramatically.

“How the hell was I supposed to figure that out right away?! You clean cut, stepford wives lookin’ motherfuckers are always into that kind of spontaneous kinky shit!”

Pushing aside the thought of Robert actually falling for that admittedly half baked plan, Mat finally spoke up. “What are you suggesting?” he asked, immediately catching both of their attention. “That someone else knows we’re down here?”

As if on cue, the stairs on the far end of the room creaked, signaling that someone was coming. All three of them turned to watch as Mary emerged around the corner, her trademark scowl planted firmly on her face. “Took you long enough” she sneered at Joseph, who looked away a little sheepishly. Her eyes fell on the other two. “And what the hell did I say about bringing them here in one piece? You know how hard it is to get blood out of a car seat.”

“He was being difficult” Joseph defended, shrugging. Mary huffed, swinging a small first aid kit as she joined them. Well, at least one good thing was happening in this hellish night.

“You’re kidding” Robert said in disbelief as she moved to crouch in front of Mat, beginning the process of patching him up. “This was _your_ idea?!”

“Mostly” she said, keeping Mat’s face still as he flinched from the harsh sting of the antiseptic. Even if she was trying to help, her nails still dug painfully into his cheeks. “In truth, it was a throwaway comment, but Joseph decided to make himself useful and helped me bring it to fruition.”

“What is ‘it’? What the hell are you talking about?” Robert demanded, clearly fed up with the mysterious air that hung around the room.

“Give me a minute, will ya?” Mary snapped. Robert frowned deeply, but went silent. Although his face was now numb from the cream that Mary smeared on his wound, Mat was grateful it was being taken care of at all. It took a little time, but Mary finally finished bandaging most of his forehead, the pain already subsiding. She wiped his face free of any blood that the rain didn’t take care of earlier before returning her attention to Robert and his question. “So, you really wanna know why you’re here?” she asked, her expression bored. Mat and Robert nodded in unison. “It’s because you two dumbasses don’t know how to take care of your business. Your drama is insufferable and I’m not gonna just let you roam free while you keep making stupid ass decisions.”

“We decided it would be better to keep you here until you’ve worked out your issues” Joseph added, relaxed in his chair. “After that, we can let you go.”

Robert opened his mouth to respond, but Mat beat him to the punch. “That is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing” He looked at both of them, total shock on his face. “You two can’t be serious.”

“Oh yes, we’re completely serious ~” Joseph said, pleased with the direction of the conversation.

“It took some time to plan, but things eventually fell into place” Mary added, crossing her arms almost triumphantly.

“Your timing is absolute shit” Robert retorted. “Do you even realize how long it’s been since I boned Sella? Literal months!”

“Okay, first of all” Mat said, thoroughly offended by Robert’s commentary. “It’s been longer than a few months. Second, why? We’re not just going to magically get along. That’s not how these kinds of things work.”

“Well, you’re going to have to make it work. We’re not letting you go until you’ve come to your senses about this whole ordeal” Joseph said with a shrug.

“He’s not serious” Robert said, directing his question at Mary. “Tell me he’s not fuckin’ serious.”

She shrugged. “It seems to be working out so far. I don’t see any reason to let you both go.”

“Mary, come on” Mat said, trying not to sound like he was getting desperate. “This isn’t funny. Just let us go and we’ll figure shit out on our own.”

“The problem is you don’t know how to figure it out” she said casually.

“Nothing has even happened for almost a year. I literally just started pulling my relationship back up with Craig. It was going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Neither do you!” Mat barked, Mary’s face falling from his sudden sharp tone. Robert and Joseph both raised an eyebrow at him as he continued to talk. “What is with everyone trying to muscle their way into my relationships? All I wanted was to mourn my dead wife in peace and maybe eventually come back to the real world. But I couldn’t even have that from the get go because this leather clad fuck face had to come and stick his dick into my business!”

“Hey!” Robert interrupted, ignoring the glare he was getting from Mat. “You keep making it sound like I forced myself onto you. You practically begged me to get inside you.”

“I was hurting! I needed someone to talk to and you made me believe you gave a shit about anything I had to say!”

“Of course I gave a shit! What the hell made you think otherwise?!”

“Where do I even _start_ -”

“Gentlemen!” Joseph stood up from his seat, raising his voice in order to be heard over the growing shouting match. The two stopped, their angered faces now on him. Joseph took a second and cleared his throat. “It sounds like … you still have a lot more to work out.”

“No, I’m not playing this game anymore” Robert said, struggling in his binds. “Get me the fuck out of here right now!”

“You two are staying here for however long it takes for you to shape the hell up” Mary declared. “End of discussion.”

Watching in abject horror, Mat and Robert couldn’t do anything as the couple headed for the stairs without another word. Mary headed up first, Joseph about to follow suit when he stopped suddenly. “Ah, I almost forgot.” Taking his sweet time, he returned to where the two sat. Without much of a warning, he began to search Robert’s pockets.

“What the - ?!” Robert wiggled viciously. “Get off!” His movements didn’t seem to do much, Joseph finding what he was looking for.

“Here it is ~” He pulled back, Robert’s phone in his hand. It was pretty beat up, mostly from years of use. Examining it for only a moment, he stuffed it in his own pocket before shifting his gaze onto Mat, whose heart immediately jumped into his throat.

_Oh no._

Just as he did with Robert, Joseph got into Mat’s personal space and began to pat him down. “J-Joseph, wait” Mat pleaded. “Are you really just going to keep us down here?”

“Until you cooperate” Joseph hummed, quickly finding Mat’s phone. He hadn’t searched thoroughly enough to find the switchblade.

“Why are you so invested in this?”

“Well, Mary is more invested than I am. I guess I was just bored enough to go along with whatever she’s cooking up in that brain of hers.” He took another moment to assess Mat’s phone. “We can’t have either of you making any sort of call. We’ll be keeping these for now.”

“How long do you think you can keep us down here?” Robert spoke up. “Maybe no one in this shithole cares about me, but Sella has the Coffee Spoon and a kid. People will notice he’s not around anymore and they’ll start askin’ questions.”

Joseph tilted his head and chuckled an ominous chuckle. “You must take me for a fool if you think I haven’t thought about every last detail.” Without offering anything else, Joseph turned on his heel and headed out of the basement; Robert and Mat were now truly alone. Without wasting another moment, Mat began to wiggle his fingers in his back pocket.

“What the hell are you doing?” Robert asked, half interested.

“I found your knife in the car” Mat grunted, feeling himself strain his shoulder a little.

“Oh shit really?” Robert looked much more excited this time, perking up at the information. “Why the hell didn’t you use it earlier?”

“I didn’t have enough time to get myself out when I was in the car and I didn’t want to hurt myself.” Pulling out the switchblade, he turned away from Robert and did his best to toss it in his direction. “Here, you know how to use it better than I can.”

Robert maneuvered his way to the blade, picking it up and unsheathing it quickly. Angling it just right, he began sawing away at the ropes binding his wrists. It was an agonizingly slow process, but he managed to get through a knot or two before pausing. “This sucks” he huffed, feeling the strain already on his wrist and fingers. “Why the hell did he have to make it so difficult?!”

With Robert turned away from him, Mat could see exactly what he was talking about. The rope was expertly tied, with more than enough knots to confuse where it started and stopped. It didn’t look ordinary either, with apparently enough strength to withstand a sharp blade.

“We also have another problem to deal with once we get untied” Mat muttered, looking down at his legs. “I’m pretty sure your knife isn’t gonna cut through metal to get these restraints off.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” Robert said gruffly, going back to his task. “As long as we can get these ropes off, I think we’ll be fine.”

Mat nodded, not sure what else to do now. Robert seemed to be making progress, so he tried his best to relax and wait. “What do you think is Joseph’s deal?” he asked, trying to pass the time.

“I don’t fuckin’ know” Robert snorted. “He’s been a creepy bastard since the day I met him. I should have known he would do something like this eventually.”

“Yeah … What about Mary?”

“I dunno, I think she’s a bit off her rocker, but she’s got more sense than him. So I don’t know why she’d suddenly be okay with kidnapping.”

“Do you think Joseph pressured her into it?” Mat wondered.

“Nah, I don’t think so” Robert said, chuckling a little at the thought. “Joseph can’t make Mary do anything. She’s definitely going along with it willingly.”

“Why would she though? This seems out of her element.”

“Maybe she’s just -”

The sound of creaking stairs instantly stopped their conversation. Robert panicked and quickly hid the knife. Sheathing it in record time, he shoved it in between the seat cushions, careful not to let it drop too far down where he wouldn’t be able to retrieve it again. Joseph reemerged, this time alone. His gentle smile was back, effectively creeping out Mat and Robert all over again. It almost distracted them from the small box he had brought.

_What is with them and small boxes?_

“Sorry to be back so quickly” Joseph said, placing the box on a side table. “But I had forgotten that it was near bedtime.”

“What, you gonna read us a bedtime story?” Robert snorted, rolling his eyes. Joseph chuckled.

“Well, if you really wanted me to read you something, I could probably find a few books around the house.” He had flipped the box open, fiddling with whatever was inside. Mat could hear a couple sharp noises, like glass being clinked together. “Though, to be honest, I don’t think you’ll be able to stay up long enough to hear the end.”

Robert opened his mouth to reply when Joseph finally pulled out what he was holding in the box. It was unmistakably a syringe, the long threatening needle poking into a small vial. Holding it up to the dull light, the liquid slowly filled up the barrel of the syringe.

“W-What the fuck is that?!” Robert choked, he and Mat reeling back. Putting away the vial, Joseph flicked at the syringe a few times with his finger before turning to face them both.

“I thought about it a couple of days ago and I decided I wouldn’t trust leaving you both all alone and conscious at night while my family slept. I had to find a way to rectify that.” With an even stride, he approached Robert, the syringe held delicately between his fingers.

“You fuckin’ stay away from me!” Robert tried to sound threatening, but the look of fear in his eyes betrayed him. Joseph wasn’t deterred and in one swift motion, he grabbed Robert’s hair, jerked his head back and injected the mysterious liquid into his neck. “Fuck!” Robert cursed, wincing from the pain as the needle was pulled out. Joseph stepped back, watching Robert carefully.

“How do you feel?” Joseph asked.

“Like I wanna kick your ass!” Robert snapped. “If this is how I die, I swear to … God …” Robert stopped, his face falling into an almost vacant look.

“R-Robert …?” Mat said carefully, his voice quiet. Robert didn’t seem to hear him and instead tried to finish his thought.

“I’ll … I’ll fuckin’ … you … the …” His words slurred together and suddenly his eyes rolled to the back of his head. His whole body relaxed and he slumped back roughly, head lolloping over the back cushion. His mouth hung open and it wasn’t long before Mat could hear him snore.

_Oh fuck._

“Seems like it worked!” Joseph said happily, congratulating himself. He returned to where the box sat, refilling the syringe for what was undoubtedly Mat’s shot.

“H-How long are we gonna be out?” Mat asked feebly, knowing it was useless to resist. Joseph paused to think.

“Hmm … I’m not sure. The goal is just for the night, but it could be longer. This is the first time I’ve done anything like this on people.” He offered Mat a fake look of sympathy. “Don’t worry, if anything goes wrong, you won’t feel it.”

His words didn’t help at all and Mat’s anxiety shot through the roof as Joseph approached him. “Joseph … I-I promise I won’t tell anyone about this. Please just let me go.”

“I wish I could, but that’s just not possible.”

“Please, I won’t try anything, I’ll stay right here.”

Joseph frowned, tilting his head slightly as he stopped just in front of Mat. “Oh come on, don’t give me that look.” he huffed. Mat didn’t break eye contact and Joseph could tell there was something much deeper that seemed to bring out this reaction. It was a short pause, but to Mat it felt like decades. Finally, Joseph sighed, dropping his shoulders. Without a word, he moved back to the box and capped the syringe. “Very well” he said, packing up the rest of the items in the box. “I’ll let you have this one night.”

“T-Thank you” Mat said, making sure he was still breathing properly. Closing the box, Joseph looked over at him, his expression serious and somewhat threatening.

“But only for tonight. Understand?” Mat nodded. “Good. I’ll see you in the morning then. Make sure you rest; we have a lot to do tomorrow.” With that, Joseph left back up the stairs, the door to the basement shutting heavily. Mat closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to calm himself down. This wasn’t how he imagined his night would end and he tried everything he could to convince himself it was just some weird nightmare.

_This is just a bad dream … that’s all. I’m gonna open my eyes and I’ll be back in my bed._

He waited a few seconds, then opened his eyes slowly. The dark, cold basement greeted him once more. Looking around, he sighed and figured the only thing to do now was to try and follow Joseph’s advice. Getting somewhat comfortable, he closed his eyes and allowed Robert’s snoring to lull him into a light sleep.


	2. Something Wicked This Way Comes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this took so long, I've been busy with life and all that good stuff. But I finally got this chapter done and I hope you enjoy ~

It was a quiet morning when Mat finally began to stir awake.   
  
His alarm hadn’t gone off yet, so the morning was peaceful, birds chattering outside like they always did. His sheets felt cool against his skin, coaxing him to stay in bed as long as possible. As he moved, a sharp pain interrupted the otherwise gentle morning.   
  
“Ow …” he muttered to himself, feeling it coming from his neck. He rubbed at the spot, figuring he must have slept at an odd angle and kinked his neck. He thought for a moment, trying to remember if they had any kind of remedy in the house.   
  
_ We should still have some ice in the freezer … _   
  
He sighed, trying to debate if he should get out of bed now. Turning as best as he could, he looked at the clock; it was 6:55 AM. He needed to be up in 20 minutes if he was going to get to work on time, but he still felt so sluggish. He opted to lay for a few more minutes, letting his mind figure out what needed to get done that day.   
  
His phone pinged, taking him out of his thoughts. He reached over and patted his nightstand a few times before he finally came across his phone. It was, of course, a message from Craig who wished Mat a good and healthy morning. Mat couldn’t help but smile, remembering their walk last night. He stared at the message, reading it over and over again in Craig’s voice. He began to type out a response when a cheeky thought came to mind.   
  
_ Maybe I should send him something different today? _   
  
Fiddling with his phone, Mat turned on the front facing camera and held it above him. Turning it several times, he did his best to find a nice angle before snapping a few selfies. In truth, he didn’t understand the aesthetic of sending pictures of yourself half awake. But he definitely knew it was a thing and thought Craig could appreciate it. He looked them over, picking out one that spoke to him, attached it to his response text and sent it on it’s way.   
  
Okay, so he wasn’t the best at posing for pictures, but it was the thought that counts.   
  
Satisfied, Mat decided he needed to get up if he was going to be able to have the motivation to do anything today. Rubbing the sore spot on his neck, he yawned as he got to his feet, the rest of his body somewhat achy. That wasn’t anything new; he always woke up a little sore and it wasn’t anything a nice hot shower couldn’t resolve. With sleepy steps, he made his way to his bedroom door and opened it.   
  
A pitch black darkness greeted him.   
  
“What the …?” he said under his breath. As much as he tried, his eyes couldn’t pick out anything that should have been in front of him. It was as if he had opened a door into a void. Without much thought, he reached out in front of him. His forearm disappeared into the black void and for a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed him. He jumped in surprise and with his entire weight, he pulled back, trying to pry those claws off of his arm. It didn't take long before whatever was grabbing him emerged from the shadows. He made eye contact with them and his heart immediately stopped.   
  
“… Rosa?”   
  
He didn’t react fast enough when she let him go and he fell to the floor. He watched in a mix of horror and disbelief as she stepped out from the shadows. Her body was young and stunning, as it had been before she had gotten ill. Mat stayed on the ground, feeling his fear come back as she smiled listlessly at him. She tilted her head, her eyes turning black. She opened her mouth to speak, her voice distorted and cruel.   
  
“This is your fault.”   
  
His entire body jolted and he sucked in a harsh breath. His eyes snapped open and suddenly Mat was awake. He gasped for breath, feeling as if he had run a marathon. He felt his clothes stick to his body from sweating and his heart thumped wildly in his chest. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was back in the basement, laying back on the couch. Nothing indicated the time to him and as far as he knew, he didn’t feel at all well rested.   
  
“Hm, you’re awake.”   
  
He jumped again at the voice; it was Robert, laying against his chest. “You’re alive” Mat said automatically, not sure if he was relieved or annoyed at the fact. Robert snorted, looking up at him.   
  
“Yeah, I’m pretty surprised too” he said tiredly. “Thought the fucker had the balls to finally put me out of my misery.” Robert started to shift, grunting as he slid his way closer to Mat’s face.   
  
“What are you - no, stop” Mat responded, annoyed from the continued lack of personal space. He couldn’t do much to get away, Robert resting his head in the crook of Mat’s neck, his beard scratching Mat’s cheek.   
  
“Hmm, much better ~” Robert sighed, humming a little in satisfaction. Mat didn’t respond, looking off in the other direction in obvious disgust.   
  
“We’re trapped in Joseph’s basement and all you can think about is how to be a bigger asshole than usual” he said bitterly. Robert shrugged.   
  
“What the fuck else am I supposed to do?” he replied, his voice muffled. “I might as well enjoy myself.”   
  
“How about escaping? That ever cross your mind?”   
  
“I’ve got all day to get to that, let me have my fun first.”   
  
“I’m going to kill you once this - hey!” Mat shivered as Robert nibbled at his neck, wiggling in an attempt to get him to stop. Robert snickered, holding his position as best as possible. “Get off!”   
  
“I see you two are enjoying yourselves ~”   
  
The pair stopped, turning to look at Joseph who stood by with a smile on his face like usual. He seemed to be holding a bowl of food. Mat frowned.   
  
“Please get Robert off me” he asked, Robert shooting him a dirty look that was ignored. Joseph complied, placing the bowl down before maneuvering Robert. Mat had forgotten the strength Joseph seemed to casually hide. With the two of them separated, Mat asked the only question left in the moment. “What’s that?”   
  
“Oh this?” Joseph replied, picking up the bowl once more. “This is breakfast for the two of you.”   
  
“That little thing is for the both of us?” Robert interjected in disbelief. “Tryin’ to starve us?”   
  
“You’ll be okay” Joseph smiled, approaching the two of them. Settling on his usual chair, he scooped up a spoonful of what looked like a cross between cereal and oatmeal. Mat didn’t take it right away.   
  
“I’m not hungry” he said, moving back away from the spoon held in front of his face. Joseph tilted his head in confusion.   
  
“Are you sure? It’s been quite a while since you’ve last eaten anything.”   
  
“It’s only been one night, I’ll be fine.” Mat grimaced, then continued. “What time is it?”   
  
Joseph sighed, checking his watch. “7:15 in the morning.”   
  
“I’m gonna pass too” Robert added. “I don’t trust you.”   
  
“You’ve never trusted me” Joseph pointed out. “It’s quite upsetting.” He looked at Mat. “You seem to trust me fine.”   
  
“Well, I did” Mat said carefully. “Right now though, I’m not so sure. You did kidnap me after all. It’s a little hard to trust you after all this is said and done.”   
  
Joseph straightened up, letting the spoon clink against the bowl and he put it down. “Oh come now, don’t throw around the kidnapping card. I did no such thing. I merely put you two in a room against your will with every intention of letting you go once you cooperate.”   
  
Mat frowned; Joseph didn’t seem to understand the concept of kidnapping. “Right …”   
  
“Good! Now then, you two must eat something.”   
  
Robert raised an eyebrow. “Yer really insistent on this whole breakfast thing, aren’t you?”   
  
Joseph locked eyes with Robert, pulling a strange expression. It caught him slightly off guard. “I care about your wellbeing. I wouldn’t want you to starve so quickly.” Robert and Mat exchanged looks as Joseph stirred the contents of bowl. “I’m not leaving until I’ve fed at least one of you.”   
  
“Alright fine” Robert barked, clearly annoyed. “Give it to me and leave us alone fer fuck’s sake.”   
  
“Excellent!” Joseph said gleefully. Not wanting to protest on Robet’s behalf or watch him be spoon fed, Mat looked away. There wasn’t much to keep him occupied, apart from some ants on the ground. After what seemed like forever, Joseph made a noise of approval and Mat turned back to look at the both of them. Robert looked annoyed as Joseph moved to wipe off the food that didn’t make it in his mouth.   
  
“Yer a shit cook” Robert muttered. “What the hell kind of food was that?”   
  
Joseph stood up from his seat, shrugging. “It’s a uh … family recipe. Passed down from my great grandmother.” He looked down at his watch again. “Stay comfortable. I’ll be back in about an hour or so to make some notes.” Neither of them asked Joseph what he meant and watched him leave once more. It was interesting to Mat how often Joseph left them alone. He thought it was some kind of flaw in his planning, but another thought came to mind.   
  
_ He probably has some kind of security looking after us while he’s out. _   
  
If that was the case, Mat became nervous. Joseph wasn’t stupid and it was possible he already had a set of eyes on them. A rustling sound next to him brought his attention back to Robert. He had retrieved the switchblade and was once again slicing away at the rope. Mat watched him for a moment, then decided to bring up his thoughts. “Hey” he said in a half whisper. “Do you think it’s safe to do that?”   
  
“What do you mean?” Robert asked, continuing his work. “You asked me to do it, remember?”   
  
“Well, yeah I did. But what if Joseph is watching us right now? On cameras?”   
  
Robert stopped, blinking a few times as he thought. “...well damn.” The two looked up, trying to search every part of the ceiling for any camera that may have been looking down at them. “Doesn’t look like he’s got any” Robert muttered.   
  
“They could just be well hidden …”   
  
“What should we do then?” Robert seemed focused for once on the task at hand, which made Mat a tad more relaxed. “If he’s got cameras, it’s possible it’s recording not only video but audio as well.”   
  
“Do you think he already knows about the … ?” Mat nodded towards the switchblade. Robert grimaced, sheathing it quietly.   
  
“He would have said something if he had, right?”   
  
“I dunno. Maybe he wants us to think he’s oblivious.”   
  
“Yeah he would” Robert snorted, rolling his eyes. “He’s a sick fuck that loves playing mind games.”   
  
The two sat still, neither of them wanting to say or do anything that could be incriminating. They didn’t find any cameras around them, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Nothing much happened at first, until Mat’s stomach growled almost painfully. “Shit …” he said, the feeling catching him off guard.   
  
“Thought you said you weren’t hungry” Robert said, amusement in his voice.   
  
“I wasn’t” Mat said, looking down at his stomach. “I mean … at least I thought I wasn’t.”   
  
“When did you last eat?”   
  
“Yesterday night before I went out.”   
  
“Huh.” Robert thought for a moment. “Joseph didn’t kidnap you while you were out, did he?”   
  
“Not really … I mean, kind of? It was after ...” Mat hesitated, wondering if the conversation was going to go somewhere unpleasant. “It was after I went out with Craig. We went on a walk together.”   
  
Robert barely hid his sneer. “Cute.” Mat was ready to defend himself, but Robert didn’t seem to be in any mood to talk about Craig. The two went silent, unable to think of anything else to discuss. Mat shifted a bit, his mind now wandering back to his dream. A tingle ran up his arm as he remember that vice grip and how much he struggled to break away. He remembered vividly the image of Rosa, standing in front of him with such an ethereal presence. Despite the nightmare, he couldn’t help but long to return to it to be with her again.   
  
He was fond of Craig and he wanted nothing more than to get back to rekindling their attraction for each other. But there was always going to be a part of him that would belong only to Rosa.   
  
Lost in his thoughts, Mat became deathly quiet until Robert broke the silence. “What’s up with you?” he asked gruffly. Mat looked over at him, frowning.   
  
“Nothing” he muttered.   
  
“Doesn’t look like nothin’” Robert pressed. Mat wanted to give him some snarky reply, but he figured Robert was doing it because he was bored. It wasn’t like Robert could walk away and this was perhaps some way for him to entertain himself.   
  
“I was … thinking about my dream” Mat said carefully. Robert went silent for a moment, studying Mat’s face.   
  
“...Was it about Rosa?” he asked. Mat blinked, giving Robert a surprised look.   
  
“Uh … yeah” he said, furrowing his brow. “How … how did you know?”   
  
Robert shrugged, looking down at his feet. “I remember you had that same look on your face when you used to talk about her at the bar.” Mat didn’t reply, his face going a little red from embarrassment. He turned away, trying to find something interesting to look at on the wall. After a short pause, Robert continued. “Tell me about your dream.”   
  
“Why?” Mat said, putting up his defenses once more.   
  
“Can’t a man be curious?”   
  
“I’ve never known you to be curious about any of my personal issues.”   
  
“Well, I am now.”   
  
“Right.” The conversation almost died there, Mat keeping to his stubbornness and staying quiet. This time Robert scowled, though there wasn’t much anger behind the look.   
  
“You never were good at opening up.”   
  
“I’ve learned not to share anything with you” Mat snapped, taking the bait. “Besides, you’re shit at opening up too.”   
  
“I’ve opened up to you before!” Robert protested. “I told you about Marilyn.”   
  
“That doesn’t count” Mat rolled his eyes, recalling the first night Robert spoke about his ex. “You were being two faced and used Marilyn to get me to soften up to you.”   
  
“So what if I had an ulterior motive?” Robert snorted. “It was still the truth and it was still me opening up. You just hate connecting with people.”   
  
“I hate connecting with people like you.”   
  
Robert blinked, going silent for a moment before chuckling. It was definitely annoying Mat. “Who knew such a soft man could harbor such contempt. Definitely out of character for you, Sella.”   
  
Mat growled, turning away from Robert once more. “Stop talking.”   
  
“Even the way you fuck is soft. It’s pretty adorable.”   
  
“Stop.”   
  
“Oh come on, it’s a compliment. I’m usually a hard and fast kinda guy. It’s nice to slow down a bit and take my time with someone.”   
  
“I said stop.” There was another pause and Mat thought Robert had actually taken to his demand. To the surprise of no one, he didn’t.   
  
“I feel sorry for Rosa.”   
  
“Excuse me?” Mat finally turned and faced him again. Hearing her name on Robert’s tongue was like nails on a chalkboard and it made his skin crawl.   
  
“You get so defensive all the goddamn time” Robert said bluntly. “Can’t imagine how she could stand being with someone like you.”   
  
“Robert, I’m warning you …”   
  
“I bet she was really pretty. You know, if she lived long enough, she and I would’ve -” Robert flinched when Mat moved. Before he could comprehend what was happening, Mat hit him in the mouth with a full force headbutt. Robert fell back, his mouth going completely numb from intense pain. “Agh!” he spluttered, blood gushing down his chin as he felt his split lip with his tongue. “What the actual fuck?!”   
  
Mat pulled back; he didn’t answer Robert and instead went back to staring at the wall in silence. Robert decided he was finished talking.   
  
…   
  
“Hm, this certainly won’t do.” Joseph put a hand on his cheek, shaking his head in disappointment as he watched Mary tend to Robert’s lip. “Completely unacceptable.”   
  
Mat rolled his eyes in annoyance. They had been alone for about an hour when Joseph returned, surprised at the scene in front of him. But even with everything somewhat calm again, he didn’t bother asking what had happened.   
  
Whatever happened, he figured Robert deserved it.   
  
“I was hoping you two would have enough self control while I was gone” he continued. “But now that I know you don’t, this presents a problem.”   
  
“What do you want us to do about it?” Mary asked, finishing up with Robert. She didn’t have the skill to fix his lip and instead resorted to covering it in bandages, hoping it would heal on its own. It wasn’t too bad of an injury so the fact that she couldn’t sew it back up shouldn’t be a problem. Joseph considered her question.   
  
“Well, we can’t separate them and it seems like the only thing that’s causing problems is they can still communicate. So …”   
  
“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I’m gonna stop you right there” Mary said, glaring back at Joseph. “Gagging them will negate the whole reason why they’re here in the first place. We may as well let them go.”   
  
“Now Mary, honey” Joseph returned her stare with one a little harder to place the intention behind. “Let’s not jump to any rash decisions. We still have to see if ‘it’ works.”   
  
“Oh great, another ‘it’” Robert huffed, his words a little slurred from the heavy bandaging on his lip. “I fucking hate you both so much right now.”   
  
Joseph raised an eyebrow at Robert. “Clearly, we still have a ways to go.”   
  
“Yeah alright” Mary said, annoyed. “We’ll see what happens. But if it fails, we’re letting them go.” Joseph didn’t answer her and instead approached Mat and Robert. He peered at them, as if he was at an exhibit of some kind. Mat didn’t like that look.   
  
“I need you two to behave, alright?” Joseph said, his tone similar to when he would scold his twins. “Don’t make me punish you.”   
  
Robert rolled his eyes. “You sound like a fanfiction.”   
  
Mat opened his mouth, paused for a second to register what Robert had said and then spoke up. “Mary, how does any of this sound okay to you?”   
  
She shrugged. “It keeps Joseph busy and out of my hair.”   
  
“I love you too, sweetheart” Joseph said with a small frown. She offered him a sarcastic smile.

“If anyone needs to get their shit together, it’s you two …” Robert huffed, glaring at them. “Why the hell are we down here again?”

“To make you both sort out your shit” Mary answered dully.

“Uh huh.”

“In any case” Joseph interrupted. “We didn’t get what we came down here for yet, so we’ll be back later. Hopefully you two will stay in one piece by the time that comes around, yes?” He gave both of them a stern look and they nodded in acceptance. “Good.”

“Seriously, stop trying to kill each other” Mary warned, her tone somehow less threatening than Joseph’s. “I’m running out of first aid shit and eventually you’re just gonna have to bleed all over yourselves.”

Mat had lost count, but once again, the Christiansen’s had left and they were alone.

_ You’d think with all this alone time, we would have gotten out by now. But then again, it has to be Robert that I’m trapped with ... _

Robert leaned over as best he could and roughly nudged Mat on the shoulder. “Hey” he muttered, his eyes scanning the room carefully.

“What?” Mat answered back, annoyed.

“I don’t trust this” Robert muttered back, not bothering to make any sort of eye contact. “Not one fuckin’ bit.”

“Really, Columbo?” Mat sighed, rolling his eyes a little. “Their obsession with us is creepy as fuck.”

“No, I don’t mean that” Robert sneered. “I mean … Joseph.” He finally looked over at Mat, who only offered a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t follow.”

“Do you not pay attention to anything, Sella?” Robert scoffed, earning a glare from Mat. He continued. “Something is off about this whole thing and all signs point to Joseph. I mean, this doesn’t feel like a ‘play nice and we’ll let you go’ kind of thing. This feels like a secondary plot kind of thing.”

“What like … they’re lying about why we’re here?”

“Not they. Just Joseph. That fucker has a terrible poker face and I could read it all over him; he’s plotting something that even Mary doesn’t know … and I don’t think it involves either of us staying alive for long.”

There was a moment when Mat’s brain began to tinker with the idea, a small pit forming in his stomach. That moment was quickly squashed when he remembered who he was talking to. “Yeah okay. Sure.” He muttered, turning away from Robert.

“What do you mean ‘yeah okay sure’?” Robert demanded, thoroughly offended. “You don’t believe me?”

“Robert, you make up a lot of things.” Mat reminded him. “Why should I believe you?”

“What do you mean?” Robert hissed, trying to scoot closer to Mat. “I’ve never made up anything!” Mat could feel the heat of anger rise up in his chest again, but stayed silent. Robert stared at him, expecting a response. He frowned when it didn’t come. “Mat, answer me!”

“Robert.” Mat’s sharp tone sliced through the air and Robert immediately went quiet, watching him. Mat looked at him, his gaze a mix between fed up and exhausted. “I’m … I’m tired, alright? I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to talk about anything or anyone. I just … I want some time for myself, okay? Can I have that?” He could tell Robert wanted to protest. He could see Robert struggle with the concept of quiet time in his head for what seemed like hours.

“...Sorry.” With that, Robert scooted back to his side of the couch and went as still and quiet as the air around them. For a moment, Mat felt bad, but decided it was for the best that he didn’t back track. He was getting the silence he wanted and he could finally take in everything that had been pushed off to the side. He let out a long, gentle sigh and relaxed back against the couch as best he could. His body pulsed with an unfamiliar ache, accompanied by the numbness on his forehead and the occasional rumble of his empty stomach. He felt tired; physically, mentally and emotionally. So much had happened in the last 12 hours and Mat hadn’t had a chance to unpack and deal with it all. He closed his eyes, focusing on unclenching his jaw from the stress he hadn’t noticed was wrecking his body. All he wanted was to lay down in his bed and rest.

…

Time passed, just as it always did and Mat finally opened his eyes again. He hadn’t dozed off and instead fell into a drawn out meditative state. It wasn’t something he did often, but it felt natural, given his current circumstance. He needed a way to protect himself mentally and that just seemed like the only thing he would be able to do, short of actual escape. He refocused on the ceiling, his mind still foggy, when a shift off to the side took his attention. He looked over, surprised for only a brief second to see Robert next to him.

_ I keep forgetting I’m stuck with him … _

It seemed like Robert has actually dozed off, his eyes heavy. Mat frowned, feeling a little bit of guilt in his empty stomach. He decided to start conversation. “You … okay?”

Robert blinked slowly, then shrugged. “I’ve been better.” He furrowed his brow, his mind working on something. “I’m just … a little confused.”

“About what?” Mat asked.

“I dunno” Robert said, suddenly looking like he regretted saying anything. “I mean I do, I just … something about it tells me it’s stupid.”

Mat sighed. “Well … what is it?”

Robert went into thought again, trying to form the best response. Mat waited patiently, slight concern crowding his own thoughts. He wasn’t used to seeing Robert so conflicted about something and it seemed entirely genuine. Though he couldn’t really comprehend how that happened in a span of probably an hour of silence.

Robert finally spoke up. “It’s just … I was sitting here, thinking about something and all of a sudden, it just leaves me. It’s gone, just like that and no matter how hard I try, I can’t bring it back.”

“You … forgot?” Mat asked. Robert nodded. “Well … that happens sometimes, I suppose.”

“In the middle of thinking about it though?”

“Maybe not like that but … you don’t remember it at all?”

“All I can remember is a name.” Robert looked at him, a quiet fear in his eyes. “It feels like a name I should know because I was just thinking about it, but I just … it’s foreign to me now. I don’t recognize it at all.”

Mat watched him, trying to understand what was going on. Robert didn’t seem like he was trying to mess around with Mat, no matter how much he wanted to believe that was the case. Robert looked scared and that was a fact. For the first time around Robert, Mat dropped his guard. “You don’t remember the context of the thought?”

“Well … no not exactly. I mean if it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t be trying so hard to remember, yeah?”

“Yeah …”

“But something tells me I have to remember. I have to bring the thought back.” He grimaced. “Something tells me I shouldn’t have forgotten.”

Mat quietly thought, asking the only question that was left. “What name is it?”

Robert shied away for a moment, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally responding.

“Marilyn.”


	3. Let's Talk About That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Good boy."

“Marilyn” Mat repeated, Robert nodding in confirmation. “You …  really  forgot her?”

“Who is she?” Robert asked, furrowing his brow in frustration. Mat was about to answer, when Joseph decided to make another guest appearance. He didn’t even have a chance to  fully  smile when Mat interrupted him.

 

“What did you do to him?” he demanded, surprised at his own firmness. This was Robert they were talking about; nothing about him was at all urgent or worthy of his time. At least until now.

 

“Hm…?” Joseph said, confusion in his face. His gaze dropped over to Robert, who seemed to be as annoyed with whatever was going on. That’s when it seemed to click, and Joseph grinned. “Oh I see! So it’s finally kicked in, hasn’t it? Lovely!” He approached Robert, dropping down to his level. Again, it was like he was talking to a child. “Tell me, what is it you’ve forgotten?”

 

Robert grimaced, mentally debating whether it was worth it to lie; he decided it wasn’t. “Some chick named Marilyn." 

 

Joseph chuckled. “Interesting” was all he said.

 

“Who is Marilyn?” Robert asked again, getting annoyed he hadn’t gotten an answer yet.

“Clearly  no one important if you’ve forgotten her” Joseph said, straightening back up.

“Marilyn was your ex wife” Mat said, finally filling in the blanks. 

“What?!” Robert snarled at Joseph. “You made me forget about my ex wife?!”

“I didn’t make you do anything” Joseph corrected. “You forgot her all on your own.” 

“I wouldn’t have forgotten her if you didn’t do whatever the hell you did to make me forget!”

Joseph pulled out a notepad and pen from the end table, jotting down a few notes as the conversation went on. “Quite a mystery, isn’t it?” he mused. “When did this forgetfulness begin? A rough estimate is fine.” 

“I dunno” Robert shrugged, furrowing his brow. He seemed engaged in the conversation now. “ Maybe  … a few hours?

“A few hours?” Mat interrupted, surprised. “You forgot about Marilyn a few hours ago and now you mention something?”  

“You were asleep or whatever” Robert defended. “After you fucked up my face I wasn’t gonna wake you up from yer beauty sleep.” 

“Sure, but I wasn’t asleep for hours” Mat said, his confusion shifting to Joseph. “How long was it between you fixing him up and now?”  

Joseph shrugged, checking his watch. “Quite a while. That all happened yesterday.” 

“ _Yesterday_?” Mat fell into a stunned silence, his eyes searching the ground as he wracked his brain. The lucidity of the conversation was derailing and Mat could feel panic enter his mind once more. He was so certain he had been here less than 24 hours that it didn’t seem possible to have lost an extra day. Nor did he think he fell into another full nights sleep without realizing it. He had only closed his eyes about an hour. He was so sure of that. 

“Speaking of which” Joseph started again, pointing his pen at Mat. “You need to eat. You haven’t had anything for a while and I refuse to have to starve yourself while in my care.” 

“What day is it?” Mat asked, ignoring his words. “How long have we been down here?”

Joseph smiled that strange smile. “I don’t think you want to know the answer to that.” 

Mat wanted to protest and somehow make Joseph tell him how much time had passed. He wanted to reorient himself and regain some kind of grip on reality. But something inside him told him it was useless. He wouldn’t gain anything if he tried and he had to accept that was how it was going to be until he could escape. 

If he escaped. 

Joseph spent the next few minutes examining Robert, asking about his memory. Mat watched  quietly , thinking about everything that had happened.

_Maybe he’s lying.  Maybe  it’s only been half a day and Joseph is trying to play mind games with me. That’s what’s going on … right?_  

“Well, I’ve gotten everything I needed from you” Joseph announced, jotting down a few last notes.  

“What’s the diagnosis?” Robert asked, figuring he might as well accept what was happening. Joseph thought for a minute.  

“Your current state is acceptable, though I’m more interested in how this is all going to progress. I was hoping you would forget more … recent things so that I could confirm earlier tests. I suppose that was a lot to ask for.”

“Earlier tests?” Mat asked, afraid to know the answer. “What are … you talking about?”

“It’s not relevant yet” Joseph answered. “Later I can indulge you. Right now, I’m gonna get you fed and after that, we’ll see what happens.” Before he could leave, Robert spoke up one last time.  

“Am I going to keep forgetting things?” he asked. 

Joseph shrugged. “It’s a little hard to tell these days, but from what I’ve learned in the past, it’s very likely. Like I said, we’re going to wait and see.” Giving them both his usual smile, Joseph left. Robert studied the ground , his shoulders sagging in deep concentration. 

“You … okay?” Mat asked, hoping he didn’t sound stupid. Robert grunted a response, taking a short, sharp breath and exhaling. 

“How do I know this is the first thing I’ve forgotten?” he asked, his gaze piercing and serious as it shifted onto the other man. “What if there are other things I didn’t get a chance to think about before they disappeared without me knowing?”

Mat frowned. He didn’t know how to answer that question. Sensing thing, Robert huffed and began to maneuver himself back. He dug out the switchblade from the couch and resumed cutting the rope once more with vigor. 

“I can’t stay here anymore” Robert huffed, the knife working  feverishly . “Not if that man thinks he can take away my life like that. I’m getting the fuck out of here, come hell or high water.” 

“R-Robert, I admire your conviction” Mat finally spoke up, glancing at the staircase. “But he’s coming back soon with whatever the hell he’s gonna feed me.” 

Robert stopped and looked at him. “You had better not eat that shit.”

“What?”  

“Whatever he plans on bringing you, it’s not gonna be food.” He stopped, thinking over his next few words. “ I think  … whatever he fed me made me forget about Marilyn.” 

Mat blinked, not sure what to make of Robert’s sudden realization. “I … how do you know?” he asked.  

“Isn’t it obvious?” Robert spat, getting back to work on the rope. “Why else would he be so obsessed with feeding us that shit? You’d think it would be like, bread and water or something. But that goopy, grey shit? That’s not food, that’s a death trap.” 

“You can’t be so sure it’s the food” Mat countered, trying hard to ignore his ever growling stomach. “It could be something else …”

“Yeah? Like what?” Robert asked, annoyed that Mat wasn’t backing up his thoughts. 

“I-I don’t know … all I know is I’m going to pass out here soon if I don’t eat something.” 

Robert growled, but decided to stop arguing. Instead, he returned his focus on the rope. Mat looked down at his stomach, hoping Joseph wouldn’t take too long. 

The wait was long, and Mat considered yelling for Joseph to hurry up when he finally reappeared. Robert stopped cutting the rope and leaned back to shield it from Joseph’s keen eyes. As he got closer to the two of them, Mat was able to see what was waiting for him in the bowl in Joseph’s hands. 

“Is … that spaghetti?” he asked, blinking in surprise. Joseph nodded  happily , mixing the noodles and sauce. 

“What the hell?!” Robert gasped. “Why does he get real food?”

“I gave you real food as well” Joseph huffed in response. “I’ll admit, it wasn’t as appetizing, but it was  certainly  real.” 

“No part of that was real.” 

Joseph rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored Robert’s commentary. He focused on Mat, taking a moment to swirl the noodles on the fork. Mat watched it brought up to his face, Joseph giving him an expecting look. He debated if this was a good idea, but a rather painful moan from his stomach prompted him to open his mouth. 

“Good boy ~” Joseph hummed, Mat and Robert giving him vague looks of disgust. Mouth full, Mat chewed, trying to remember the normal taste of spaghetti. As he swallowed, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong with it. To be honest, it actually tasted quite good. It dropped  heavily  into his stomach and he could almost immediately feel himself perk up. Joseph seemed to notice this and smiled as he continued feeding him. 

The room fell quiet at Mat ate, and it didn’t take long for him to finally finish the bowl. He frowned, staring at it in disappointment. “What’s wrong?” Joseph asked. “Did you want another helping?” Mat wanted to say yes; his stomach was definitely not empty anymore, but it didn’t feel like enough either. The painful hunger in his stomach drowned out the small voice in the back of his mind telling him to stop.

“Y-Yeah …” he answered, licking his lips.

Joseph chuckled, pleased with his answer. “I’ll be back soon with another helping then. I’ll even make sure it’s nice and warm for you, yeah?” He reached over and patted Mat on the cheek. Mat turned his head away, though he didn’t put much effort into the movement and Joseph left the basement once more. Mat savored the taste left in his mouth from the spaghetti and Robert looked at him with intense focus. 

“You feel alright?” Robert grunted.  

“So far, yeah. I’m still pretty hungry though …”

“You can’t eat more.” 

“It feels like I haven’t eaten in days” Mat protested. “We don’t even know if your assumptions about the food are real.” 

“Well how else would he have drugged me?” Robert said  defensively . “And don’t say you can’t drug food because you know as well as I do that it’s a thing!” 

“Maybe  he’s playing mind games with you.” Mat considered his next words  carefully . “I mean, it didn’t look like food at all. But mine looked and tasted exactly like spaghetti. He could be messing with you.” 

“What’s the point though?” Robert let out an annoyed sigh. “Why would he want to mess with me? You and I are both down here, so why wouldn’t he mess with both of us?” 

“Maybe  he still likes you” Mat shrugged. Robert narrowed his eyes, bristling at his words.

“Don’t even joke about that. Joseph is a walking trainwreck.” 

“Mmm … yeah, you’re right” Mat sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “I can’t imagine two disasters getting along that well.” 

“At least I don’t kidnap people” Robert muttered.

“I wouldn’t  be surprised  if you did to be completely honest.”

“Oh fuck off.” 

Mat laughed; it was hollow with very little humor behind it. “You can’t convince me you weren’t planning to kidnap me at one point.”  

Robert shifted a bit, rolling his eyes. “Yer not that special.” 

“Your obsession with me would suggest otherwise.”

“I’m not _obsessed_ with you” Robert snapped. “I’m  just  … I’m not used to sharing people, that’s all. Cahn had to go and ruin that fer us.  

“You don’t _own_ me” Mat shot back, not at all amused by the conversation anymore. “You and I are grown ass men and you think I’m your _property_?” 

“N-No!” Robert screwed up his face, caught off guard by the accusation. “Look, I know I talk a lot of shit, but that’s not what  I think  at all!”

Mat frowned, but decided not to answer. He sighed, laying back against the couch. “I wish you had forgotten me and not Marilyn. I wish _I_ could forget you.” 

They both fell silent for the rest of their alone time. Joseph returned about 15 minutes later, bringing what he promised. Excited at the prospect of even more food, Mat ate the entire serving much faster than before. Robert wasn't paying attention and instead concentrated about something else. Neither of them noticed Mary joining them. 

“Now don’t you feel much better?” Joseph said  happily , handing the bowl off to Mary. Mat nodded. “Good!”  

“You two make any progress yet?” Mary asked, looking down at the two of them. Mat and Robert glanced at each other and  simultaneously  shrugged. Mary made a noise of disgust. “Ugh, men are so complicated.”  

“Would it matter if we did?” Robert asked. “Obviously  you two are keeping us down here for other reasons.” 

“These other reasons will help you make up” Joseph pointed out. “If you both cooperated, then they wouldn’t  be implemented .” 

“Why are you so secretive about it then? If it’s so harmless, why not let us in on your diabolical plans?”  

“Don’t be stupid” Mary interjected. “The less you know, the easier it is for Joseph to do what he needs to without getting convinced otherwise.” 

“So you admit it’s diabolical?” Mat chimed in, raising an eyebrow. Mary and Joseph both sighed. 

“Believe what you want to believe.” Joseph said, turning his attention towards Robert. “For now, we need you.”  

“For what?” Robert blinked in surprise, now on high alert. 

“What do you think, dumbass?” Mary snorted. “We need to see if your memory loss is legit and isn’t some fluke.”  

“If it is legitimate” Joseph continued, moving towards Robert. “Then we can start to -"  

Robert moved so fast, Mat didn’t have a chance to register what was going on at first. Robert lunged from his seat, the severed rope hanging off of one wrist as he aimed the switchblade at Joseph. In truth, he wasn’t sure if he meant to threaten Joseph or actually stab him. So much adrenaline was coursing through his body, he forgot to actually think before he acted. Joseph moved out of the way, grappling Robert and using his momentum to force him flat on the ground. Robert’s legs were still bound, so Joseph got the upper hand on him, wrenching the switchblade out of his grip. He knocked Robert out with a sharp elbow jab to his temple. Robert went still, his breathing very short and still, the only sign that he wasn’t dead.  

Mary had taken a few steps back, watching in stunned silence with Mat. Catching his breath, Joseph stood up straight, staring at the blade in his hand. Looking it over, he tilted his head a bit before chuckling under his breath. “I was beginning to wonder when you two would use this against me …”

He looked at Mat and a new kind of tension filled the room. Mat stayed quiet, his eyes darting between Joseph and the still body of Robert. He could feel himself go a little light headed and he forced himself to breathe again. Mary was the first to recover from the sudden turn of events. “What’s the plan now?” she asked Joseph. Stepping closer, she nudged Robert with her foot, crossing her arms  stiffly. 

“The same as it always was” Joseph answered, his entire demeanor now cold and distant. “Robert made it easier for us to take him where we need to go. As for this one …” He pointed the blade at Mat, who paled. “We may have to knock him out as well. To be sure he won’t try anything while we’re out.”

Mat tried to protest. “I won’t -” 

“Hush” Joseph  sharply  said, making both Mat and Mary jump. Joseph approached Mat, narrowing his eyes. “We’re not playing games anymore. Understand?”  

Mat had no choice but to cooperate. He nodded and Joseph smiled a sweet smile. 

“Good boy ~”

…

Mat awoke to the strong smell of rubbing alcohol. 

He wrinkled his nose, turning his head in an attempt to get some kind of fresh air to no avail. With heavy eyes, he focused on the same old view that was always in front of him. This time, he could hear some rustling off to the side. 

Resting his head back against the couch, he couldn’t recall falling asleep. Taking in a deep breath, he let it out and focused on waking up. “Fuck this …” he mumbled under his breath.  

“Same.” 

Mat flinched, not expecting to hear a response. He looked over, Robert sat by him as per usual. The only glaring difference was his head was  heavily  bandaged and his face was puffy and bruised. He  was tied  up once more, this time the rope looping around his torso. His legs seemed to be bound much more  tightly  as well. Robert looked at him, his expression dazed. “What the hell did he do to you?” Mat asked, taking in Robert’s entire appearance. 

Robert shrugged, his eyes closing  briefly  as if he was going to fall asleep. “Dunno … I sorta … woke up like this.” He fell into a wet coughing fit, shaking a little from the force before calming down a few seconds later. He took in a deep breathe, getting it back into a calm rhythm. 

Needless to say, Mat  was terrified . 

“I’m glad you could finally join us, Mat” Joseph spoke up, hanging out by a table that had been set up in the middle of the room. It  was covered  with beakers, empty vials and very real looking needles. Joseph himself  was dressed  in what looked like a doctor’s uniform. “I was beginning to think I put you into a coma on accident.” 

Mat wanted to ask what was going to happen, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak yet. Instead, he turned to keep his gaze on Robert, who was trying to fight a heavy wave of sleepiness. He  quickly  lost and started to snore. Joseph noticed this and continued to talk. 

“Don’t worry about him” he said, his tone not at all reassuring. “If anything, he’ll sleep through the recovery period.” He busied himself with his tools, bottles clinking together at he shifted them around. “Right now, I’d like to focus on you. So far, you’ve only had one reaction and I was quite pleased with the results. But I need to collect more data from you to develop my methods for future use.” 

“What’s all this going to mean?” Mat asked. “Why … are you doing any of this? Why to us?" 

Joseph mulled over Mat’s question, examining a scalpel at the same time. Mat didn’t expect a truthful answer, or one at all, so it surprised him when Joseph replied. “There are so many things you don’t understand, Matthew. So much of what’s going on in this town have been right under everyone’s nose. Yet they could never comprehend, even if they could see it all.” He took in a deep breath and sighed, a small smile coming across his face. “There are things I want to do, but can't if I have to deal with your problems. These issues you have are not conducive to my experiments. Of course, everyone has problems. Yet, you and Robert are the least detached from what I can tell. You're on the brink of destroying the walls you built around yourselves.”

With the scalpel in hand, Joseph approached Mat. With careless hands, he gripped Mat’s chin and forced his head upwards. The blade hovering as he tried to decide where to cut. Mat felt it harder to breathe, but he didn’t resist otherwise. There was not point, he thought. Joseph chuckled, and continued. “There’s nothing worth protecting. You and Robert have nothing left and I am so delighted to take you from a world that you pushed away. You almost ruined it with Cahn, but I stopped that from festering …” 

Joseph hummed a bit, finally picking a place to start. “Either way, we can finally get rid of your useless memories and fill you with something much greater.” Mat closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain. 

The blade only had a moment to press against his skin, when a phone began to ring. 

Still holding his breath, Mat locked eyes with Joseph as they recognized the ringtone; it was Mat’s phone. Frowning, Joseph released Mat and fished out the phone from his pocket, the ringer still going off. He examined the name on the screen, and raised an eyebrow. 

“Hm …” he said, looking over at Mat. “It’s your daughter.” 

Mat could feel his stomach drop and swallowed  thickly . “...Let me talk to her” he said. 

“Why would I do that?” Joseph asked, playing with the scalpel in one hand while staring at the phone in the other. The ringer stopped, the room going quiet once more. It didn’t seem to stay long though and after about a minute, it began to ring again.  

“Please, I have to answer it” Mat insisted, becoming more anxious with every ring. “If she can’t get ahold of me, she’s going to figure out something is wrong.” He watched Joseph, who seemed to be contemplating his words. As the phone started it’s third set of rings, Joseph moved back and placed the phone onto the table. The vibrations rang against the metal plate it sat on, making it more unnerving to Mat.  

“No,  I think  I’ll let you listen to it” Joseph mused. “It’ll set the … tone for the afternoon.” 

“The hell is that …?” Robert woke from his slumber, his words slurring. He furrowed his brow, annoyed by the noise. 

“Nothing important” Joseph said, otherwise ignoring him. “Now … where were we …?”

With his heart thumping in his ears, Mat watched as the blade made contact once again with his cheek. This time, Joseph seemed to hesitate . To Mat’s brief surprise, Joseph pulled back.

“Hm … I was going to cut your cheek, but I realize you have a rather handsome face and I would hate to ruin it.” He tapped his chin, thinking. “Well, you do have that cut on your forehead. I’m sure you won’t mind if we open that up again, no?”

Without waiting for any kind of permission, Joseph got into Mat’s personal space once more. He picked at the bandages on his forehead, pulling them off rather  painfully . Mat winced, gritting his teeth a bit. With the wound now out in the open, Joseph tilted his head and he looked it over. “Huh … looks like it’s almost done healing … almost.”

The cut was slow and deliberate, causing as much pain as possible. Mat tried not to move too much with a knife so close to the rest of his face. Blood spilled from the cut, travelling down his chin and dripping down his shirt. Robert watched in horror and to Mat’s relief, decided not to comment. Finally pulling the knife away, Joseph took his time and used a vial to collect Mat’s blood. It filled almost to the point of overflowing before Joseph capped it. Placing it on the table Joseph then picked up a kitchen rag beside some other bottles. Folding it up, he placed it over Mat’s wound, pushing his head back so that the back of his neck rested against the couch. 

“Stay there” Joseph instructed, letting go once he was sure Mat could keep still and the rag wouldn’t fall off. “Good boy.” 

“We’ll be back soon to patch you up … again.” With that, Joseph cleaned up the table and stored the vial in it's own small box. Mat's phone, still ringing, was again placed in Joseph's pocket. He looked over Mat and Robert one last time before giving them a cheerful wave goodbye. Mat was still holding his head back, his face wrinkled in pain and shirt now splattered in blood.

“H-Hey …” Robert said, scooting closer to him. “You alright?”

Mat grunted, opening one eye to give Robert an annoyed look. It seemed like the shock of the moment was enough to sober up Robert. “Fantastic.” 

Robert moved close enough so that they were shoulder to shoulder, nudging Mat  gently . “Tilt your head this way, but try to keep the rag on you. That wound isn’t gonna stop bleeding if we don’t get some pressure on it.” Mat did what he said, tilting his head towards Robert. Positioning himself, Robert pressed his cheek against the rag. Mat sighed in defeat, his face placed in the crook of Robert’s neck. It was closer than Mat wanted, but the moment didn’t seem to harbor any snarky or sexual response from Robert. Instead, the two sat in silence, Mat feeling Robert’s gentle pulse.  

After a moment, Mat spoke up again. “Hey” he whispered.  

“Hm?” Robert grunted.  

“Do you think we’ll die down here?”  

Robert didn’t reply right away. “... I don’t know.” He shifted, getting more comfortable. “If we do, it’s been a long time coming for me.”

“Is there...anything you regret?” 

“Nah. I live my life  deliberately .” He chuckled, the sound throaty against Mat’s ear. “You?” 

“I regret a lot of things” he admitted, his mind wandering.  

“Yeah? Like what?"  

“I regret the kind of father I turned out to be to Carmen.”  

“What?” Robert said with complete surprise. “The hell are you talking about?” 

Mat shrugged as best he could, his heart feeling heavy. “I don’t know … I always wanted a family, but I was one of those people that never felt ready. I was so scared of messing up, that part of me was willing to avoid that step altogether.”

“Mmm.”  

“Rosa and I … we worked so well together as a duo, it wouldn’t have been a loss.” Mat sighed, Robert sensing his deepening frown. “She told me everything was going to be fine and that all we needed was to find a nice neighborhood to settle down. Then everything else would fall into place. Carmen was born and for a while, everything was okay …"

Mat stopped himself, clearing his throat. “I tried my best to raise Carmen alone, but  I feel  like I failed. I had to make sure I was there for her as she grew up and I was never given time to grieve. She’s a smart kid though; it didn’t take long for her to see I was mentally struggling. We  eventually  talked about her mother and that allowed the both of us to heal together.”

“You consider that a failure?” Robert asked, his question serious. 

“I feel  like opening up to her was a mistake. Our dynamic shifted and she ended up taking care of me instead of the other way around. There were days where I couldn’t get out of bed, even if I had responsibilities. She took this caretaker role because of my inability to cope with Rosa’s death. It forced her to grow up faster than the other kids her age and  I think  she’s taken that to heart.”

"None of this makes sense" Robert muttered  thoughtfully . “You two seemed to have such a close relationship...”

“We are close, but  I think  it’s for the wrong reasons.  I think  she still believes that she has to take care of me, even though it’s been years. Part of that, to her, is keeping her own issues to herself. I know she’s not immune to pressures from school and friends. But when she tells me about them, it’s with this confidence that they’re not problems. It’s like she’s trying to protect me from taking on more stress because she’s afraid of losing another parent. I always tell her to be open and honest with me, but Carmen is the only person I don’t know. That kind of revelation hurts as a parent. Especially when you know it’s your own fault.” 

“Hey” Robert nudged him with his shoulder, prompting Mat to straighten back up, the rag falling down to his lap. The two stared at each other, and for a moment, Robert took in Mat’s face. It was still caked in drying blood, but the wound seemed to have coagulated at that point. There was a sincerity in Robert's eyes that Mat hadn't seen before. Robert took in a deep breath, straightening up. "You're the best damn father I know. I fucked it up with Val and I guess an ex wife I don't recall, but you? You've got it figured out. You know how to care for another human being ... something I'm still trying to figure out." He frowned, becoming serious. "You're doing your best and that's all anyone can ask for. Got it?"

Mat wasn't sure if it was the pain from his head wound, but he couldn't bring himself to shoot down Robert's words. He  softly  smiled. "Yeah ... I got it."


	4. Back to the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter gets really intense my friends. please enjoy it!
> 
> also, i know i never respond, but i love all the comments ive been getting. they mean so much to me and they make me feel like i'm doing a good job on this fic. thank you so much for vocalizing your interest in my story and i hope to continue getting that feedback. you're all the best ~

Joseph’s absence was short; too short for anyone’s liking. This time however, he didn’t wear his usual toothy smile. He was more serious, more quiet as he approached Mat and Robert, and they were not ready for whatever nonsense he was about to spout again. He stopped and stood where he always did, his hands uncharacteristically shoved in his pockets.

“Well,” he started thoughtfully. “It seems like everything is going how we want it, despite your little outburst.” He looked over at Robert specifically, slightly raising an eyebrow. “Hopefully you’ve gotten that out of your system.” Robert didn’t answer, instead breaking eye contact with him to look over at Mat who seemed a bit lethargic.

Mat definitely wasn’t paying attention to what was going on. His head was throbbing, both with pain and a headache from the pain and a good part of his face was caked in drying blood. He somehow managed to stop actively bleeding, but he was afraid Joseph would want to change that sooner rather than later. At this point though, he wasn’t sure if those fears were valid. It could have just been his lack of blood in his body talking.

Joseph sighed audibly, now focusing on Mat. “Look at you, all somber. We’ll fix you up, alright? Don’t act like you’re knocking on heaven’s door just yet.”

Mat grimaced, processing what Joseph said. His gaze was on nothing in particular and he sat slumped a little more than usual. But he was doing everything he could to stay aware. “Carmen …” he mumbled, Joseph perking up a bit in surprise. “I just … want to see Carmen again …”

“Later” Joseph replied, rolling his eyes a bit. “It’s only been a couple days since you last saw her; get a grip.”

“C’mon fuckface, that’s his daughter you’re talking about.” Robert sneered. “Give him a break.”

“I have kids too” Joseph defended.

“Doesn’t mean you care about ‘em” Robert shot back.

“We’re getting off topic” Joseph said firmly, narrowing his eyes. Robert shrunk back a bit, keeping any more snarky remarks to himself. “Yes, I can acknowledge that Mat doesn’t feel that great, both from the medication and his wounds.”

“The medica - ?”

“But that’s why we’re gonna make sure he’s his usual perky self again.” Joseph finished. “He just needs some fluids.”

“Stop doing that” Robert said irritably. “You keep mentioning stupid shit that you don’t wanna explain!”

Joseph shrugged, smiling tightly. “I just like fuckin’ with you.”

In the middle of their conversation, Mary appeared once more. She wasn’t in her usual outfit, instead dressed in a long white coat with gloves and a medical mask hanging loosely around her neck. She was carrying a metal tray, carefully balancing a few sterilized items that didn’t look pleasant. Her entrance even caught the attention of Mat, who seemed a little more attentive.

“How’s he doing?” she asked Joseph, placing the tray on the table now permanently set up off to the side of the room.

“Tired, but fine” Joseph said, taking a closer look at Mat who avoided any kind of eye contact. Mary hummed as a response and she began to fiddle around with her supplies. Robert was never really afraid of hospitals, but all of this was beginning to wear on him.

“When did you become such a nurse?” He asked dully, not really wanting an answer.

“I’m versed in many professions” she said, though Robert couldn’t tell if her answer was serious or not. “It’s what happens when your bum husband leaves you alone most of the time to go off and sleep with the whole neighborhood.”

“You can just say me” Robert sighed. “It’s not a secret.”

Mary gave him a deadpan look. “I would be lying if I said just you.”

Joseph was ignoring the conversation, more focused on finding a good spot on Mat’s arm for the eventual IV that Mary was going to place. “His right one looks good” he muttered, waving for Mary to come take a closer look. “He has good veins here and it’s not covered in tattoos.” He straightened up, flashing a smile at Mat who was pushed forward to give them access to his arms tied behind his back. “Wouldn’t want to give you a scar on such nice art.”

“You sure it’s not gonna get pulled out?” Mary asked, raising an eyebrow. “He’s gonna be pushing up against it all day.”

“Where else do you suggest we put it then?” Joseph asked, frowning. Mary thought for a moment.

“Maybe his neck?”

“That seems just as precarious.”

“Well I don't fuckin’ know. You’re the mastermind, not me.” Mary crossed her arms irritably, already fed up with his presence. After a bit more deliberation, the two decided just to go with Joseph’s first plan and Mary got to work placing the IV.

Suddenly, Joseph’s phone began to ring.

He huffed, not at all hiding the fact that he was annoyed. “Now who could that be?” he muttered to himself, digging into his pocket. “Don’t they know I’m busy?” Pulling it out, he checked the screen. “Oh” he said, surprised.

“Who is it?” Mary asked, raising an eyebrow at him. She had pushed Mat back up in a sitting position, already having set him up with his IV drip.

Joseph furrowed his brow. “It’s Craig.”

“You gonna answer it?” Mary asked, not entirely sure if that was a good idea or not.

“Not if those two ruin it” Joseph said, nodding towards Mat and Robert. Understanding his implications, Mary quickly moved back to her small tray and picked up a conveniently placed roll of duct tape. It was quick work to effectively mute Mat and Robert and as soon as she finished, Joseph answered the phone.

“Hello?” he said, putting on his cheerful demeanor. “Oh hey Craig! It’s going pretty well, how are you?” Robert tried listening in, but Craig’s voice on the other side was too quiet and muffled to really pick up his side of the conversation. “O-Oh?” Joseph put his hand to his heart, his face dropping in sympathy. He nodded slowly as he listened to Craig. “Missing?” he eventually said, looking over at Mat. It hadn’t been long, but whatever fluids they were feeding into Mat were already bringing him back to his usual self. He stared back at Joseph, his eyes showing the slightest bit of fear. Joseph continued with the conversation. “I understand. Perhaps we could meet at your place in, say, 10 minutes?” Getting a confirmation from Craig, Joseph hung up, his look of concern quickly fading.

“That didn’t sound good” Mary muttered. Joseph shook his head.

“Not particularly. I was hoping for at least another day, but I guess people would have eventually figured something was amiss.” He shrugged, heading towards the exit. “I’ll see what I can do about Craig. Keep watch for any changes while I’m gone.”

“Yeah alright” Mary said, rolling her eyes as Joseph left her alone with the other two. The silence quickly got to her and she decided she needed conversation. She approached Robert and, with a swift movement, she ripped off the duct tape from his mouth. He yelped in pain and Mary couldn't help but chuckle. “Oh come on you big baby, it wasn’t that painful.”

“Yeah right!” Robert snapped, moving his mouth around to try and lessen the stinging feeling. “Feels like ya ripped off my lips! Some of my stubble is probably missing too.”

“As if you had any lips to rip off” She said, still highly amused. She worked on removing the duct tape from Mat, this time much more careful and gentle. It still hurt, but at least he was free to speak again.

“Thanks …” Mat mumbled, his frown back on display. “So … what is it you're pumping into me?” he asked, referring to the IV. “It’s … warm.”

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure” Mary said, scratching her cheek. “I didn’t really bother asking him.”

“You mean he doesn’t just tell you these things?”

“No, I just do what he says.”

“Why are you so passive about all this?” Robert asked. “Does none of this set off any kind of alarms in your head?”

“Are you really okay with this?” Mat added, a little less forceful than Robert. “Are you … okay?”

Mary’s expression fell, briefly showing something soft before quickly screwing up into a deep scowl. “As if you two are in any position to question my judgement. You barely know me.”

“I know you enough to say you aren’t some henchmen to Joseph’s fuckery” Robert insisted. “You have more self respect than that.”

“Maybe I wanted to do something different for once” She said, waving her hand to blow off his comment. “People change.”

“People don’t just suddenly agree to kidnap two of their neighbors, hold them hostage and perform all kinds of experiments on them. All while keeping everything incredibly vague.” Robert hesitated briefly between sentences. “That’s not change, that’s manipulation.”

“Excuse me?” Mary flared up, Robert having hit a nerve. “You think Joseph has the capacity to manipulate someone like me?”

“Mary just think about it” Mat cut in, hoping to keep her from shutting down the conversation entirely. “Maybe he’s not manipulating you but there’s something odd about how you’re letting all of this happen. What do you possibly have to gain by cooperating with him?”

Mary faltered just a bit; her face told them she didn’t have an answer for such a question. Instead, she narrowed her eyes. “That’s not your business.”

“Ya’ll kidnapped us!” Robert half shouted, making the other two jump. “Everything is our business now!”

“We’re just trying to understand” Mat said, desperation slowly coating his tone. “If you don’t want to let us go, then fine. But -” He paused, looking over at Robert. “I’m sorry, what was your name?”

“Er, Robert” Robert answered automatically.

“Thank you.” Mat returned his attention to Mary. “But Robert and I deserve to know why we’re here and what you’re trying to gain from our captivity. The real reason.”

The room fell into a stunned silence around him.

“W-What?” Mat said, shrinking back a little when he didn’t a response right away. The silence stretched for much longer than Mat could keep track of, when Mary finally spoke up.

"What did you say?" Mary asked. Mat grimaced, but cooperated.

"I said we deserve to -"

"No, not that" Mary cut in quickly. "Before that. You asked Robert his name." She pointed  at Robert, who looked equally as stunned. "This man right here, you asked for his name."

“Well … yeah.” Mat confirmed half heartedly. “Is … was I not supposed to?”

“N-No it’s just …” Robert stuttered slightly. “... we already know each other.”

Mat looked at him in disbelief and chuckled nervously. “What? No that’s … you don’t look familiar at all.”

“We’re neighbors” Robert started to become frantic, shooting off information almost too fast for Mat or Mary to keep up with. “We’ve known each other for years, we’ve spent nights together, you know so much more about me than anyone else in this shit hole. H-How do you not remember who I am?”

Mat stared at him, swallowing thickly before shaking his head. Robert’s jaw tightened and he wasn’t sure if he was on the verge of crying or yelling. He quickly locked eyes with Mary, who had taken a step back in surprise.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Robert spat, fury building up in his chest. “You wanted to fuck around with our memories and you still act surprised when it happens? What are we supposed to do now? We can’t fix any problems anymore because they no longer exist to him. Is that what you wanted?”

“H-Hey don’t blame me!” Mary half yelled back. “I’m not the one who plotted all of this out!”

“You let this happen!” Robert was fuming now, gritting his teeth so hard they hurt. “I forgot my ex wife and Mat forgot me because you let that fucking asshole play God! I blame everything on you!”

Mary clenched her fists, rooted to where she stood. She wanted to break down and admit Robert was right. She wanted to stop everything and let them both go. It had been less than a week and she was already exhausted with having to pretend about one more thing in her life. Since the day Joseph came to her with the plan, she wanted nothing more than to have him caught and taken away from her and her children.

But she was Mary and she would never admit to that kind of thing to the people who mattered most to her.

Without so much as another breath, Mary turned on her heel and left.

…

The house was tense, Craig’s almost erratic energy slowly suffocating everyone else. Joseph of course did his best to keep him calm, fearing it would set off Carmensita. “Can you house her for now?” he asked carefully. “We shouldn’t leave her on her own and I think she’d feel much better with a temporary father figure to make everyday as normal as possible.”

“Of course” Craig nodded his head quickly. Joseph offered him a look of sympathy, reaching out to rest his hand on Craig’s shoulder.   
  
“I need you to spend today just getting her and yourself to relax. I’ll go out, let the authorities know that Mat’s missing and before we know it, we’ll have everyone in town looking. I know how much you want to get involved, but you need to do this first. Alright?”   
  
Craig ran a hand through his hair,his fingers twitching nervously. “Y-yeah, no problem.” Satisfied with Craig’s cooperation, Joseph offered him a small smile, which Craig returned weakly. Joseph looked over at Carmensita one last time.   
  
“We’re gonna find your dad” he said confidently. “Trust us, okay?”   
  
She didn’t seem to believe his words, but there really wasn’t any room to argue. “O-Okay …”   
  
“Good girl.” With that, Joseph gave Craig and Carmensita one last goodbye hug before leaving the house in silence. He stepped onto the sidewalk and stopped, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. Any concern he showed was gone, replaced with a blank and almost bored expression. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked casually, palming Mat’s phone in his hand mindlessly. His mind drifted for a second before coming to a decision. Pulling out the phone, he shut it off.

_ Don’t need you ringing anymore. _

The rest of his walk was uneventful and eventually he reached his own house. Stepping through the front door, he was instantly hit with the smell of tomato sauce. “Oh how nice ~” he said delightfully, closing the door behind him. Following the smell, he entered the kitchen where Mary was busy stirring a large pot of homemade spaghetti sauce. Joseph leaned on the kitchen entrance way, crossing his arms. “I can’t remember the last time you cooked anything in this house” he said, announcing his presence.

She acknowledged him, but didn’t turn away from her task. “I just want to show you how it’s done” she said casually. “The last batch you cooked for them left a lot to be desired.” She listened to Joseph chuckle softly, sending a tingle down her spine. She didn’t like that feeling. Before she could shake it off, she flinched when Joseph suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her back into him, he nose nuzzled into her neck. The heat from his body on her back made her stomach drop and she had to do everything to fight that sick feeling in her stomach from the unwanted contact.

“Your initiative is attractive ~” he purred into her ear, his hand lazily dropping to her thigh and gripping it almost painfully.

She wiggled a little, but not enough to make him think she wanted to get away just yet. “The kids are upstairs” she muttered, hoping that would get him to stop.

“We can be quiet” he said, his other hand quickly finding its way under her shirt to grasp her breast. His cold hand dipped into her bra, his fingers roughly grazing against her nipple. She sucked in a nervous breath and decided this had to stop. Gripping his wrists, she pulled herself away from him, finally turning around to meet his gaze. He stared back at her, his eyes narrowing just a bit.

She pulled down the hem of her shirt, still feeling exposed. “There’s a problem” she said.

“Oh?” Joseph asked, crossing his arms irritably. He clearly wasn’t interested in what she was referring to. Still, she continued.

“Mat’s forgotten Robert. He doesn’t remember him at all.”

Joseph seemed to like this news. “Excellent news! The IV drip is working perfectly then. How wonderful ~”

“No, that’s not good at all” she insisted. “What about getting them to cooperate?”

“Mmm, that was never part of the plan ~” He chuckled. “It’s funny how you think such a thing is still legitimate.”

“That’s what we had agreed to in the beginning.”

“Things change, darling. Don’t you know that?”

Mary bristled, wary of his condescending tone. “Joseph …” she started carefully. “This isn’t … how I thought this would turn out. This entire thing was batshit insane from the beginning and I … I can’t keep doing this for you. We have to let them go.”

Joseph stared at her silently, mulling over her less than forceful words. Just as suddenly, he began to quietly chuckle and Mary was overwhelmed with tension and the sense of imminent danger. “You’re funny” Joseph said through a tight smile. “You’re really funny.” He took a few steps towards her, tilting his head slightly. She stepped back just as much, trying to keep him from closing the distance. “Did you really think I was going to give up all my progress because you were having second thoughts?”

“How long are you planning on keeping this up?” She asked, not sure why she thought she could reason with him. But something inside her told her she had to at least try.

“As long as it takes to get what I want” Joseph answered simply. “Whether or not you’re here to see that happen with me is becoming less relevant, the more you speak.”

“Is that a threat?” she asked, the question coming out as a soft whisper. She wasn’t used to hearing herself so small. Joseph stopped walking and snorted. He didn’t answer right away, instead turning his attention towards the cabinet drawers to his left. He reached out pulling them open one by one, as if he was looking for something.

“Tell me something darling” he said, continuing his unknown search. “Have you made any friends since we’ve moved here? Any real friends?”

“Robert and Damien” she said automatically, her nails digging into her flesh from how tightly she tensed her fists by her sides. Joseph hummed a response.

“It’s funny because, as far as I know, they don’t seem to treat you like a friend.” He paused, picking up a butter knife from one of the drawers to examine it. “You only ever seem to run into them accidentally. They never call you, invite you anywhere, ask you for your company … it’s always accidental, isn’t it?”

Mary stayed quiet and when she didn’t answer, Joseph continued. “You’re temporary company. You never learned how to manage relationships or act like a decent human being. We dated because then you weren’t alone. You married me because if you didn’t, you were going to be alone again. You birthed my kids because you thought that would keep us together. Even after I came home that one night and told you how I had been having an affair with Robert, you forgave me because you didn’t want to have to deal with any sort of backlash for being a single mother with four kids that you irresponsibly asked for.” His expression became bitter and he slowly placed the butter knife back in its place.

His eyes fell on the knife block.

“I gave you all of my love and attention” he continued, his tone dangerously low. “I gave you a home and a family and a chance to experience a good life and after I ask you to do just one thing for me, you have second thoughts. Worthless, ignorant, second thoughts.”

It took so much effort for Mary to block out his words. She had heard them so many times before and she had to remind herself that it was all mind games. None of it was true and she couldn’t allow herself to fall into self pity.

“Even with all your flaws” Joseph said with a sigh. “I’m still here and I still love you. You couldn’t say that about anyone else, you know. No one else is able to put up with all of your terrible decisions like I can. Why can’t you see that this is only going to bring us closer together?”

Mary opened her mouth to speak, taking a moment to stop her voice from shaking. “You’re a monster” she growled.

Joseph looked her in the eyes, his face unreadable as he slowly drew out a carving knife from the block.

“I’m a God.”

…

The basement felt awkward after Mary had left. There were more questions than answers and for the longest time, neither of them would really look at each other. Mat was ashamed that he had forgotten his companion and Robert was too upset to face that reality just yet. Not to mention Mat was still attached to that IV. If that was the source of his memory erasure, Robert wasn’t sure how many more things Mat would forget until Mary and Joseph decided to take him off of it.

_ What if he’s already forgotten something else? _

Anxious about the possibility, Robert cleared his throat roughly, catching Mat’s attention. “So …” he started, his heart thumping hard in his chest. “So you don’t … remember me at all?”

Mat thought for a long time before finally shaking his head. “No … sorry.” Robert very clearly frowned, worrying Mat. “Is it really a big deal?”

“Nah, don’t … don’t worry about it.” Robert forced a smile, which Mat believed was genuine. “It’s just … a little jarring. We have some intense history.”

“Really?” Mat said curiously.

“Mmm.”

“Well … tell me about it then.”

“What?” Robert blinked. Mat shrugged.

“Maybe if you tell me about it, I’ll remember.”

Robert hesitated; he had to think carefully. His initial instinct was to lie straight to his face and pretend like they had some great relationship together. If he could get away with it, he was willing to convince him they were actually a couple. Mat saw how hurt Robert was to find out he had been forgotten, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to lie and say it was because they were in such a loving and healthy relationship.

The problem was the unsure future. If they were both trapped for the rest of their lives, it wouldn’t matter how many lies Robert told him because no one could challenge him and Mat would die thinking he and Robert were meant for each other. But what if somehow they were rescued? What if one day their memories resurfaced and his ex wife came back to him while Mat’s hatred for Robert returned as well? Mat would remember the lies and the resentment would deepen into a place where Robert would be completely cut from Mat’s life.

Robert wasn’t complicated. He was a lonely alcoholic that lied to keep himself interesting to other people. He had pushed his own family away and struggled to find that same warmth with someone who had lost family themselves. They were so alike in their grief, Robert was willing to do anything to keep Mat from walking away once he had found other interests, like Craig. He had manipulated and used Mat, because he was afraid to face his loneliness. He had become so disillusioned that Robert didn’t mind the anger Mat felt towards him as his erratic behavior put a wedge between them. He wanted to be in Mat’s life, regardless of how.

But now, here he was; forgotten by the person he wanted remembering him the most. Anger, hate, resentment, desperation. It was all gone. Robert was a complete stranger and while it erased everything they had gone through, it was as if time had reversed and given Robert a second chance. He drifted onto one sobering thought.

_ Maybe this time … you’ll love me back. _

Robert took a deep breath and began. “W-Well … it all started a few years ago when you first moved to Maple Bay …”


	5. Something Left to Save

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! how's it going? i hope it's going well.
> 
> i started a new semester at college this past week, so i've been pretty busy. i'm going to do my best to keep updating in a timely manner, but if i lag a little bit, that's why. again, i thank you all so much for your kind words. it's the best part of my day to read your comments and to see what i'm doing right. i love you all very much. <3

It was still dark outside when Craig woke up.  
  
He lay in bed, his eyes up at the ceiling without much focus. The rest of the house, like usual, was quiet. It was about 2 AM, several hours before he woke up to start his morning routine. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't will himself to go back to sleep. It had been this way ever since Mat had gone missing, and it was tougher each day to pretend the stress wasn’t killing him.  
  
I can’t imagine what Carmen is feeling right now … he thought, his stomach churning. Craig had done his best trying to tend to Carmen’s needs while she stayed at his house. In theory it wasn’t too difficult; he already had three girls so having her around wasn’t that much different. What was most difficult was trying to find normalcy.  
  
No matter how hard he tried, Carmen didn’t want to talk to him. She barely left the twin’s room and none of Craig’s strength could tear her away from her phone. The times he did see her, she would stare at it, hoping her dad would call to let her know he was okay. But everyday, it was as silent as she was and it only seemed to make her more and more of a recluse.  
  
Craig understood what she was going through and decided it was best to let her deal with her emotions on her own. At least until she asked for help.  
  
He sighed. It reminded him of those three months he had to spend away from Mat. The two were so close and yet he had to pretend Mat didn’t exist while staying out of his life. It hurt, of course, but he had to be understanding. Even when he had to spend those months home alone, barred from his children. Even on those nights when the solitude was overwhelming.  
  
Even when Craig couldn’t take it anymore, he had to be understanding.  
  
He closed his eyes, his mind pulling him to that night. He felt confined and restless in his home, and he made himself get out of bed and go on his jog. He took his usual route, hoping that by the time he had gotten back home, he would be relaxed enough to go back to sleep. That didn’t seem to be the case, so he ran his route again, and again, and again. Nothing seemed to fix his claustrophobia and his mind began to go into panic mode. He gave it one last try, hoping that a new route would be the cure. He chose a random direction and took off for the last time.  
  
He had eventually made his way to the bridge that connected the small town to the rest of the world. Crossing the bridge at a leisurely pace, he took a moment to stop and look over the edge and down at the ocean. Due to recent storms, the waters looked especially restless, crashing against the bridge. He sighed, listening to the sounds that seemed to almost call to him. Watching and hearing the water, it was like it was asking for his company, to come closer. It was so comforting, thinking about how far away he was from his problems and how much farther he could get if he gave in. It wouldn’t be too hard to do; he would only have to hoist himself over the railing and let go. Let go of the pain, the loneliness, the failures.  
  
It would have been so easy.  
  
Craig shook his head, returning to the present. It had been a while since he had acknowledged that night, hoping it would one day be erased from his memory. For now, he would keep it to himself and avoid that bridge.  
  
Checking the time once more, he decided to get his run out the way. Getting out of bed, he spent the next hour or so getting ready. His body seemed to protest, his bones a little more achy than usual and his eyes fogging over a bit. But at that point he was already dressed and ready to walk out the door, so he pressed on. Grabbing his phone, headphones and a flashlight, he headed out.  
  
The air was crisp and the moon hung above him, full and bright. He started with a light jog, circling the neighborhood once before heading on the trail at the edge of the woods. It was here where he burst into a faster pace, his body warming up around the cold atmosphere. As he continued jogging, an idea slowly crept into mind.  
  
_It wouldn’t be hard to hide something … or someone ... in the woods …_  
  
Coming up to the first campsite, he slowed down to a near stop and took a moment to catch his breath. He looked around, pulling out his earbuds to see if he could hear anything. It was almost silent, a distant owl hooting every now and again, accompanied by a croaking frog. Figuring he wasn’t going to be bothered anytime soon, he pulled out his flashlight and turned it on.  
  
The light illuminated the space in front of him and he had to blink his eyes a little from the sudden change. Tightening his jaw a bit, he swept the light around him and tried to take in every detail of the campgrounds. It didn’t seem disturbed in a while, leaves covering the table tops and the fire pit clean of any recent use.  
  
“Mat?” he called softly, knowing that even if he was out there, he wouldn’t have heard him. Craig urged his legs to move, wandering around the campground with his flashlight. He reached the edge of the forest and Craig have every intention to wander deeper within. But he hadn’t come prepared and if something were to go wrong, he wasn’t coming back home. Pulling back, he decided he had spent enough time at the campsite and continued on his jog.  
  
Well, at least that’s what it was for approximately 3 seconds. Craig had become too hyper focused on his surroundings and instead decided on a casual walk. He stopped at every campsite he came across to give it a thorough inspection before moving on.  
  
To his frustration, he came up with nothing. Everywhere he looked, it seemed abandoned long ago. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Robert either, who Craig remembered having a habit of camping out often on his own. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Robert around at all for a while either. He thought back a little more and realized he hadn’t seen him in the past week or so. His brain immediately wanted to connect it to Mat’s disappearance, but he shot it down. Robert naturally kept to himself; maybe he was off on some camping trip or visiting family.  
  
_Does he have family?_  
  
Craig reached the end of the trail, the sky beginning to turn a soft mix of blue and orange. He checked his watched and realized he had spent more than two hours on his jog and that it was nearing 5 AM. He cursed under his breath, upset that he got caught up in his pointless investigations. Still, it calmed his nerves to know that there wasn’t anything suspicious.  
  
At least nothing he could find.  
  
Putting his flashlight away, he made the long walk back home. Carmen didn’t wake up as early as his girls, so his schedule was a little more forgiving. She did seem to sleep in later as the days went by, so Craig made a mental note to setup an alarm for her.  
  
About 45 minutes later, Craig walked through his front door. Tossing his keys and phone on a side table, he sat heavily on his couch, letting out a tired groan. Almost immediately his mind wandered back to Mat, but he forced himself to stop. He promised Joseph he wouldn't try to think too much about Mat while home. It was tough and often times he wondered what use it did since Carmen was clearly still thinking about him. He supposed Joseph meant she needed a strong figure to tell her that everything would work out.  
  
It felt a little childish, and Craig knew Carmen was much too intuitive to believe that kind of bullshit. But Joseph never considered the children of the neighborhood to be smart. Still, Craig was in no position to fight him on something serious like this, so he decided to play along.  
  
Craig rested for a little bit longer before deciding to start his day. Getting up from the couch, he shuffled his way into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. Letting the water pelt against his skin, he could feel his body tingle as the grime and sweat washed off of him. It was definitely the only positive thing that happened to him this past week.  
  
It took about an hour, but he finally decided he was clean enough and got out of the shower. The steam from the hot water built up in the bathroom and Craig had to wipe the mirror to see himself and fix his wet hair. As he dried off his face and neck, he stared at his reflection, not at all surprised by how exhausted he looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, his skin look more pale than usual and there was tension in his brow and jawline. He knew he was stressed, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be so obvious on his face.  
  
_I guess you can’t win them all …_  
  
He finished getting dressed in his bedroom and prepared to make breakfast. It was about 8 AM, which was a reasonable time to start preparing some breakfast for himself and Carmen. He got to work frying some eggs, toasting some bread and cutting up some fresh fruit.  
  
Sitting alone at the dining table, he picked up a magazine and started to flip through it as he ate. Normally, he would read about fitness, helping him stay motivated throughout the day. But today was a little bit different. For the past week, he had taken it upon himself to collect Mat’s mail and keep it somewhere safe until he returned. It turned out Mat had a few magazine subscriptions. One of them included baking recipes that looked delicious on the cover. Figuring it wasn’t completely illegal, Craig decided to flip through them.  
  
Getting engrossed in a glamour shot of croissants, he didn’t notice Carmen walk into the kitchen. She sat down across from him and the clink of the plate made him jump in surprise.  
  
“O-Oh!” he said, quickly shutting the magazine. “I’m … sorry, I didn’t hear you come out of your room.” Carmen gave him a solemn look, poking at her eggs with her fork before deciding she was hungry and began to eat. Craig frowned, but decided to let her be and went back to the magazine.  
  
Finding nothing else of interest, he pushed it off to the side and picked up another magazine. He raised an eyebrow, realizing this one was about gardening.  
  
_I guess that makes sense. He has a lot of roses on his front lawn._  
  
He flipped through the pages, in awe at the intricate gardens and beautiful flowers on each page. They looked almost like paintings and Craig began to feel like his home was drab in comparison.  
  
“Mr. Craig?”  
  
Craig jumped, his attention snapping instantly to Carmen. “Y-Yes?” he answered, aware that he had forgotten how her voice sounded. She hadn’t looked at him, instead her eyes on the counter top behind him. The silence stretched on and Craig had begun to think he only imagined her saying something.  
  
“... Do you remember the succulent you gave my dad?” Her voice cracked slightly, Craig figuring it was from underuse.  
  
“I do …” he said.  
  
Carmen frowned a little, her brow furrowing. “... It’s still in our kitchen and I haven’t watered it since I started staying here …” She paused. “Do you think … we could go get it and bring it here?”  
  
Craig blinked, surprised that this was the first thing she said to him in a week. He wasn’t about to complain though. “Of course” he said, offering her a warm smile. “We can get it after we finish eating.”  
  
About twenty minutes later, the pair found themselves back at the Sella household. They had come for the plant, but Carmen also brought her backpack, in case there was anything else she wanted. Fishing her set of house keys from her pocket, Carmen unlocked the front door and let it creak open.  
  
Craig stepped in behind her and flipped on the living room lights, the house as quiet and still as the day Carmen left. The only thing that seemed to be different was the amount of dust that had gathered. Otherwise, it was as if time had stopped. Taking a deep breath, Carmen stood as straight as possible and marched into the kitchen. She collected the succulent and returned, handing it off to Craig. “I’m gonna check my room” she said. “You don’t have to come with me.”  
  
“Take your time” Craig said. “I can wait as long as you need.”  
  
“O-Okay.” Gripping the straps of her backpack , she disappeared into her room. Craig stood for a moment, his eyes traveling around the room.  
  
_Maybe … there’s something here that can tell me what happened to him …_  
  
Figuring Carmen was going to take a while, Craig decided to start his investigations. Carefully putting the succulent down on the coffee table, he began to look around. At first it felt like an invasion of privacy and he had almost managed to convince himself not to snoop. Even Joseph had advised him not to do any “personal investigations” because he thought it would upset Carmen. But she was busy doing her own thing and Craig couldn’t help himself.  
  
_Something tells me I need to look._  
  
He started at the couches, feeling between the cushions for anything. They came up clean and he moved on to drawers. Craig thumbed through papers, pencils and other junk that cluttered almost every drawer. Nothing popped out at him and he didn’t have the time to examine anything anyway, so he continued. He checked underneath the couches and found nothing but dust bunnies.  
  
“Damn it …” he cursed, hopping back up onto his feet. He looked around, trying to think if there was any other place he was missing. He hadn’t gone into any of the other rooms in the house because he knew he was short on time. It also didn’t feel like he had a reason to go through a more personal space like Mat’s bedroom.  
  
_It just feels too sudden …_  
  
He was considering taking a second look through the room when Carmen appeared once more. Her bag was slung over her shoulder, looking much heavier with more of her belongings. Her eyes were red and Craig realized she had managed a small break down without him hearing.  
  
“Did you find everything you needed?” he asked, deciding not to bring it up with her.  
  
“Yeah,” she said. She looked around for a moment, a thought coming to mind. “Actually …” She said. “Do you think … we could  stay and open up the windows for a bit? It … feels kind of stuffy in here.” She quickly added, “When he comes back, I-I don’t want him to feel so anxious about the house feeling stale.”  
  
Craig blinked, but nodded. He wanted to spend a little more time in the house and this seemed like the perfect excuse to do so.  
  
_I’m sure Carmen feels the same way._  
  
“Oh - yeah, of course. We can do that.” He agreed, trying not to sound too happy. The two then set to their task, both falling quiet in concentration. Carmen opened the windows in her own room and the living room, giving Craig that task of opening all the others. Starting in the kitchen, Craig could feel a breeze when he pulled the window open, and he took a deep breath. It was relaxing, if only for a moment.  
  
He moved on to open up the window in the bathroom and then finally stood in front of the door that led to Mat’s bedroom. A small pit in his stomach made him sick at the thought of entering this place again. But a quick pep talk gave him a burst of energy and he opened the door.  
  
The room was dark, the curtains drawn and blocking out the sunlight. Crossing the room, he pulled the curtains back and opened the window, the room illuminated. Everything was as undisturbed as the rest of the house, paused in a sort of organized mess. Books and papers lay scattered on his desk, clothes draped over his dresser and even his bed lay unmade. Craig frowned, looking around the room with intense concentration.  
  
Nothing looked familiar.  
  
_This is where it happened, isn’t it?_ He thought, wandering over to the bed. He reached down, his fingers tracing the folds in the blanket fabric. _Then … why don’t I recognize this place? Why does it feel like I’m walking into an entirely new space?_  
  
Craig had every intention of laying in Mat’s bed, hoping that it would somehow jog his memory, but he held back the urge. Mat wouldn’t let him back in his bed so soon and Craig had to respect those wishes.  
  
Having no other business in his room, Craig stepped out and returned to the living room. The house seemed much brighter and he felt he could breathe better with the flow of fresh air. But it still felt empty and nothing they could do would change that. Doing his best to relax while the house aired itself out, he sat gingerly on the couch. He scanned the room for a moment before Carmen reemerged from another part of the house. She stepped up to him and they exchanged small smiles.  
  
“Can I join you?” She asked tentatively.  
  
“Of course” Craig said, scooting over to give her some room. She took the seat next to him, instinctively resting her head against the crook of his arm. A long silence followed, both of them lost in thought before she spoke up again.  
  
“Do you think my dad will come back?” she asked. Craig opened his mouth to answer when she interrupted with a much more serious tone. “I mean for real. Really real.”  
  
Craig closed his mouth, frowning as his gaze dropped down to her. She looked back up at him, patiently waiting for what she hoped was the truth. He dreaded having this conversation with her, but he knew she deserved to know exactly what was going on.  
  
“I … don’t know” he said, sighing. “It’s hard because no one knows where he went or why. There hasn’t been any clues about what happened and … I’m not sure if or when they’ll come up.”  
  
Carmen hummed a little as a response, mulling over the information in her head. Craig watched her, trying to figure out what was going on in her head based on her expression. He didn’t get a chance to guess before she spoke up again.  
  
“Do you think he could be dead?”  
  
“W-What?” Craig was taken aback, moving so that the two faced each other. “No of course not, he’s -”  
  
“You don’t have to keep lying to me” Carmen started to look annoyed, juxtaposing her exhausted eyes. “My mom is gone and now my dad disappeared. I don’t have any siblings and I’m not close to any of our relatives. If the only person who means more to me than me is dead, I deserve to know so I can grieve.” She paused. “If I have to say goodbye … then I want to be able to say it.”  
  
He wasn’t sure how to respond. He wanted so hard to believe that everything was going to be okay, but he knew deep down that it wasn’t at all realistic. Mat was gone, he had left his daughter behind and it didn’t seem like he was going to be found any time soon. There was no evidence that he was dead, but none to say he was alive either. Craig had to face the facts and accept that there really wasn’t a clear answer, and it terrified him.  
  
“It’s … possible. It’s possible that when we find him … he could be dead.” Craig hated the taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t let himself back track. Carmen wanted his honesty and she seemed to take it just as well as she said she would. She looked down, her expression flickering between sad and confused. Eventually, she settled on an odd type of content. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  
  
“If that’s the case then … I hope he gets to see mom again. He really missed her.”  
  
He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, but the two decided it was time to go. Closing up the house once more, Carmen gathered up her backpack and held the succulent in her hands. With the front door locked, the two headed back to Craig’s place. They walked side by side and suddenly Carmen reached up and gripped his hand. He looked down at her in surprise, her gaze firmly forward. He stayed quiet, feeling her walk a little bit close to him.  
  
Reaching his front door, Craig used his free hand to pull out his keys and looked for the right one. He managed to unlock the front door when a voice behind him caught his attention.  
  
“Ah, Craig. How nice to see you.”  
  
He turned, his eyes falling on Joseph who was walking up his driveway, his usual toothy smile on his face. “O-Oh, hey Joseph” he greeted, trying to match his smile. “How are … how are things?”  
  
“As they’ve always been” Joseph said, shrugging. His gaze fell on Carmen and he offered her a small wave. She nodded back politely, but Craig could feel her grip on his hand tighten, her body scooting closer to him. Joseph didn’t notice and instead cleared his throat a little awkwardly. “Ah, actually, could I speak to you? Just the two of us?”  
  
“Sure” Craig nodded. He turned to Carmen. “Go ahead inside. I can help you organize your things in a bit.” Carmen nodded, giving Joseph one last, long look before scuttling inside. Rubbing the back of his neck, Craig stepped away from the door and met Joseph where he stood. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”  
  
“How are you both doing?” Joseph asked, his gaze on the house momentarily. “I can’t imagine this has been at all easy.”  
  
“We’re managing” Craig said with a shrug. “It gets frustrating, knowing I can’t do anything to help speed this along but …”  
  
“You know why I can’t let you get involved” Joseph said sympathetically. “It would be a detriment to the search if we gave you free will to look through things you’re not supposed to.”  
  
“Yeah, I know.”  
  
“This is all to help find Mat. Nothing against you.”  
  
“Yeah.” Craig sighed, trying not to let himself get emotional. “Have you found anything yet?”  
  
Joseph shook his head. “Nothing concrete, but I’ve got people out looking. I’m sure something will come up.”  
  
Craig frowned, not at all satisfied with the information. “Is that it?”  
  
“So far, yes.”  
  
“There has to be something I can do” he insisted. “I don’t know how much longer I can sit around, lying to Carmen.”  
  
“The best thing you can do right now is to go about your daily life” Joseph said, putting a hand on Craig’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard, but the best thing for Mat right now is to stay out of things and let me handle things. Alright?”  
  
“...alright.”  
  
Joseph smiled again, patting him once before letting go. “Good boy. I’ll try to keep you updated as often as possible, but I do have family as well so I can’t make any promises.”  
  
“Don’t worry about it” Craig reassured. “I understand.”  
  
“That’s good.” Joseph checked his watch. “Speaking of which, I have to run some errands before the kids come home from school. Has Carmen gone back herself?”  
  
Craig shook his head. “No, she’s not ready to be around other people yet.”  
  
Joseph put his hand to his heart. “Goodness … I hope she doesn’t fall behind.”  
  
“She’ll be okay. Hugo is making sure she gets homework and class lessons online.”  
  
“That’s good to hear …” Joseph sighed, shaking his head solemnly. “It’s a shame this had to happen to such a nice family. She must be beside herself to lose both her parents like this.”  
  
“We’ll find him” Craig said a little too quickly. “Mat will come back.”  
  
Joseph smiled sympathetically. “I’m sure he will” he said. “Anyway, I have to take off. I’ll see you around, yes?”  
  
Craig nodded, Joseph smiling pleasantly one last time before heading off. Craig watched him walk down the sidewalk for a moment before a small, unpleasant shiver ran up his spine. Not entirely sure what that was, he wiggled his shoulders a bit before heading back inside the house. It was quiet, the only noise coming from Carmen’s room. He decided to check up on her and approached the closed door, knocking.  
  
“Come in” he heard her say. Opening the door, he saw Carmen on Briar’s bed, clothes strewn around her that she picked up from the house. The rest of her salvaged items were on Hazel’s bed, waiting to be put away. Normally the room would be much more crowded, but Craig had asked Ashley to take care of the girls while Carmen was around. Although she knew it would be tough, Ashley understood the circumstances and obliged. Despite everything, Craig could feel his relationship with his ex become much less hostile. They still had their arguments, but it was nothing compared to how damaging it was before.  
  
“Want some help?” he asked, watching Carmen struggle with folding a jacket. She looked at him, sheepish.  
  
“... Yeah, if you don’t mind.”  
  
He sat on the other side of the bed, Carmen passing him most of the laundry pile she had yet to fold. The two fell into a comfortable silence as they set about their task. However, it didn’t take long for Carmen to speak up again. “What did you and Mr. Christiansen talk about?”  
  
“Your dad” Craig answered honestly.  
  
“Oh.” Carmen thought for a long time. “I don’t really like Mr. Christiansen.”  
  
Craig blinked, a little surprised. “I mean … I know he can be a little awkward, but … I don’t think he’s that bad.”  
  
“No, it’s not that” Carmen sighed, putting down the shirt she had folded halfway. “I just … something about him feels weird. I don’t trust him.” She fiddled with the fabric in her hand. “I don’t know if you believe in auras or anything. My dad would always talk about people having different auras and how people would give off vibes.” Craig nodded. “Well, Mr. Christiansen has the kind of aura that doesn’t make me feel … safe. My brain screams ‘stranger danger’ whenever I have to see him. My dad taught me never to trust people with that kind of aura.”  
  
Craig frowned. He wanted to politely disagree and save Joseph some dignity. But another part of him felt like maybe he agreed with her. “I can ask him not to come by as often then” he said, hoping that was enough for Carmen. She shrugged, but accepted his offer.  
  
“Yeah I guess so.”  
  
They continued with their task, but something buzzed in Craig’s mind and he asked Carmen one last question. “So … what kind of vibe did your dad get from me? When we first met, I mean.”  
  
Carmen thought back, giggling a little to herself. “He thought you were cute.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
Carmen smiled at him; the first genuine smile he had seen from her in a long time. “I mean, he thought you were a total bonehead. But I guess he really liked your butt.”  
  
Craig turned red, deciding that was enough gossip for the day and resumed folding clothes. Carmen laughed at his expression and he had to dodge her attempts at taking photographic evidence of his face.  
  
…  
  
Night came and Craig decided to go out for an evening jog. Carmen still hadn’t gotten used to his nightly routine and she would ask him to stay at home where she knew he would be okay. He opted to stay in a few nights in the beginning, but eventually he got too antsy to sit around and wanted to go out again. He would sit her down and assure her that everything was going to be okay and that if she needed anything, to call him. The first night alone, she texted almost every minute, and called him when he didn’t return home exact one time. A few nights passed and she became more comfortable with being alone for the two hours that Craig would be out. She still texted him at least every half an hour and she always called him right when two hours was up, but he didn't mind.  
  
His intention was to jog, but today he couldn’t find the energy to do anything strenuous. Instead, he walked in town, watching different shops start to close their doors for the night. He passed by the Coffee Spoon, the inside dark and unoccupied. A small sign hung on the entrance, handwritten by Pablo.  
  
“The Coffee Spoon will be closed for an indefinite amount of time” it read. “We apologize for the inconvenience. - Pablo”  
  
He walked further into town, the streets becoming more empty as the sun set. The distinct stink of alcohol reached his senses and he realized he was approaching Jim and Kim’s. He stopped in his tracks, his heart beating a little faster. Like before, it was enticing him to come in and have a drink or two to calm his nerves.  
  
“No” he said firmly to himself. “I’m not doing this to myself again.” He breathed out, trying to shake out the tension in his shoulders. He turned, ready to walk away when a thought came to mind.  
  
_What if Mat is inside?_  
  
Craig chuckled nervously. “N-No, he’s not there.”  
  
_How do you know?_  
  
“He doesn’t drink, there’s no reason for him to be there.”  
  
_But what if someone there knows something about him?_  
  
“Like who?”  
  
_Like Robert._  
  
Craig stopped walking, cursing under his breath at his own logic. Before he could stop himself, he found himself entering the bar. Holding his breath momentarily, he walked in carefully and surveyed the area. It seemed busy, Craig having to be careful not to bump into anyone almost every other step. A few people looked at him, recognizing that he wasn’t a regular, but otherwise no one seemed to care. Alarms bells went off in his head and it didn’t take long before he began to regret his decision.  
  
_This was a terrible idea. I need to get out of here._  
  
He turned around, hoping to make a quick escape and return home. Halfway back to the entrance, a familiar face caught his eye. Feeling his stare, Mary looked up from the man she was talking too.  
  
He blinked. “Mary?”  
  
“C-Craig?!” Mary almost choked on her drink, immediately sobering up. A few people stopped to look at what was going on, Craig waving awkwardly at her. With a few quick steps she approached him and dragged him by the collar to occupy an empty booth.  
  
“Wha - hey!” he exclaimed, not resisting her as she shoved him into his seat. Somehow it smelled worse than the rest of the bar.  
  
“What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed, confusion and irritation crossing her face as she sat across from him. Craig chuckled nervously, adjusting his shirt.  
  
“I … I don’t know, to be completely honest.” He brushed off the tabletop, making sure there wasn’t anything wet before resting his arms on top.  
  
“Don’t tell me you were looking to get wasted again” she growled. “Because I’m not gonna sit by and let it happen. You’re too good for that.”  
  
“N-No, of course not” Craig said quickly. “Believe me, I learned my lesson.” Mary narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, still sipping her drink. Craig watched her for a moment before frowning deeply. “I thought … I don’t know. Part of me thought that it wouldn’t hurt to see if Mat was here. I know he doesn’t drink but … I wanted to be sure, you know?”  
  
Mary stared at him intensely. She then sighed, putting her drink on the table. She relaxed and seemed to become much more soft. “How are you holding up?” she asked.  
  
Craig shrugged. “It’s hard. I’m trying not to freak out too much because I don’t want to worry my family. But it’s not like I can keep pretending that everything is okay.”  
  
“Mmm …” Mary looked down at her cup, biting her lip in thought. “And Carmen?”  
  
“I don’t know” he sighed. “She only started talking to me, so I guess it’s okay? But ... she keeps hiding in her room. She gets nervous every time I have to leave the house and she’s … afraid. The first night she was with me, she got so overwhelmed that she had a massive panic attack.” His heart ached at the memory and he looked guiltily at Mary. “Almost every night, I can hear her cry in her room. She’s scared that he’s … he’s not going to come back. She’s so afraid of being alone and I-I … I don’t know what to do.”  
  
Craig could feel his face become warm and he did his best to hide it by cradling it in his hands. She watched him, her fingers fidgeting nervously. “This is my fault” Craig finally mumbled. “Everything that’s happened to him, it’s my fault.”  
  
“What?” Mary said, surprised. “No, don’t you dare blame yourself.”  
  
“Mary, think about it” Craig insisted, looking at her again. She could see a sudden exasperation befall his expression. “So much of what’s happened to him has been because I meddled in his life. If I hadn’t gotten drunk, I wouldn’t have hurt him. If I hadn’t hurt him, he wouldn’t have suffered these past few months. If I hadn’t taken him out that night, he wouldn’t have vanished.”  
  
Mary didn’t know how to respond and instead stayed silent. Craig stared her down for a moment before continuing. “I keep thinking about that night. About how I made the stupid decision to get drunk and how he had to bring me to his place to sleep it off. But no matter how much I try, I can’t remember hurting him.” He clenched his fists, his face becoming tense. “I’m not … trying to pretend like I didn’t do it. If Mat says I did it, then I trust him. But I just … I just can’t fucking remember and that’s what’s killing me. I hurt the man I love and I can’t even remember doing it in the first place.” He clenched his jaw, closing his eyes tightly. “And now he’s gone. Because of me.”  
  
“Craig look at me.” Mary’s tone was strict, making his flinch in surprise. He looked at her and he could see the conviction in her eyes. She took a deep breath before continuing. “There’s nothing you have to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong. None of what happened is your fault.”  
  
“Mary I -”  
  
“No, shut up and listen!” She barked, slamming her fist on the table. “Nothing that’s happened and nothing that will happen is ever going to be your fault. I’ve seen true scum walk the face of the earth, deflecting their faults onto other people. This is all on them, alright? All this bullshit, manipulation, pain and misery. This is their fault and one day they will make a mistake and everything they’ve ever done will come back to them. They will have to suffer the consequences for the rest of their wretched existence. Those are the people who did this, not you. It will never be you. Understand?”  
  
Craig sat still, his eyes on hers. He tried to come up with something to refute her words, but he came up empty. He sighed in defeat. “Yeah … yeah I understand.”  
  
“Good.” Mary leaned back slowly, taking a slow sip of her drink while maintaining eye contact. Craig looked away, nervous.  
  
“Thanks …” he said.  
  
“I care about you” she muttered, staring at her now empty cup. “You don’t deserve to feel like you did anything wrong.”  
  
“Mmm …” Craig ruffled his hair, letting out a strained sigh. “I guess I get overwhelmed with how little I’m helping out. I want to get involved, but Joseph keeps saying I’m better off taking care of Carmen. I mean, that’s important too, but it doesn’t feel like enough.”  
  
Mary frowned, pushing her cup off to the side. “If you asked me, I would say go batshit and do all the snooping you want. You’re involved with this as much as anyone else so there’s no reason for you not to get your hands dirty.”  
  
“I appreciate that” he said.  
  
She sat still for a moment, studying his face. Then, she spoke in a low whisper, “Just … promise me something, okay?”  
  
Craig blinked, confused. “A-Alright …?”  
  
Mary took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Don’t  ... don’t trust everything that comes out of Joseph’s mouth.”  
  
“What do you mean?” he asked, lowering his voice as well. Mary frowned.  
  
“I’ve dealt with this man for much longer than any of you will ever know him and I can tell you right now that he isn’t innocent. He likes to think he’s this servant of God, but…” She looked around, somehow worried that he was going to pop up any second. “ … even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” She straightened back up. He followed suit, contemplation clear on his face.  
  
“I’ll keep that in mind …” he finally replied.  
  
Mary nodded, smiling stiffly. “Good.” She took a deep breath and sighed, exhausted. “I … have to get back home. I don’t have much more reason to be here.”  
  
“Let me walk you” Craig said. “It’s … the least I can do for your help.” Mary smiled and accepted his offer. Linking her arm in his, she allowed him to walk her out of the bar. She stumbled a bit, but managed to stay upright throughout their slow walk. Keeping her eyes on her feet, her hair blocked her face from him and she deeply frowned. A heavy feeling of guilt weighed down in her stomach. Despite all the alcohol, she resisted saying anything she knew would get her in trouble.  
  
Eventually, the two made it to the edge of the Christiansen household. Mary stopped, Craig following her lead. “This is good” she said, separating herself from him.  
  
“Are you sure?” Craig asked.  
  
Mary chuckled and nodded. “Yeah” she assured. She locked eyes with Craig, both of them staring at each other for a bit longer than Craig was comfortable. Then, very carefully, Mary reached up and cupped his cheek. “You’re a good man” she mumbled. “Better than most. Don’t forget that.”  
  
“T-Thanks” Craig said, taking her hand off his face. She didn’t resist, but she didn’t let go of him immediately either. Instead, she looked solemnly down at their hands, her grip somewhat tight own his own; as if she was afraid to let go. After a moment, she willed herself to finally release her grip and walked off. Craig watched her, waiting until after she was safe inside before he left. No one else seemed to be out and Craig tried to remember if he had seen people on the night he was with Mat for the last time. Nothing seemed to come up, so he put the thought to rest.  
  
His pace slowed down when he approached the Sella household and he stopped to stare.  
  
The house was dark, as expected. Craig’s eyes tried searching the exterior, but without any light, there wasn't much to see. He could feel his throat tighten, a rush of emotion hitting him all at once. Taking a deep breath, he walked up the driveway, stopping at the front door. He reached out, placing his hand flat against the cold surface and stood for a moment.  
  
“I’m sorry …” he muttered. “I'm so sorry …” He stood there, as if expecting some kind of answer. He sighed, ready to go back home.  
  
Then, something caught his eye.  
  
Furrowing his brow, he focused on the wall the right of the door and noticed some discoloration. It wasn’t too big and speckled downwards. His eyes followed its path and fell to the ground, where more of the stain dried into the concrete.  
  
“What the …” he said under his breath, crouching down to get a better look. It looked to have been there for a while, faded enough to look like it was supposed to be there. It was also small, enough so that he could cover it with one hand. Craig reached down, his fingertips tracing the darkened edges. Then, he realized the color of the stain.  
  
“Is this … blood?”  
  
His heart jumped in his throat and he quickly retracted his hand. His mind buzzed with the excitement and dread of the realization and he could feel an urge to keep looking. With nervous hands, he pulled his phone from his pocket. Switching on the light, he took a photo of the stain before examining the rest of the concrete step. He growled, not finding anything else out of place. He swept the light around, following the concrete where it stopped before some shrubbery. Leaning over until his head touched the ground, Craig shone the light underneath. There didn’t seem to be anything under the one on the left and he moved on to the one on the right.  
  
Shining his light underneath, a glint of something caught his eye. Unsure of what it was, he reached under and felt for the object before getting a grip of it and pulling it out.  
  
His heart stopped; it was Mat’s keys.  
  
...  
  
Mary walked into the house, careful to shut the door behind her. With one hand on the wall to keep her from tripping, she entered the living room. Joseph was sat on the couch, surrounding by her children as they watched a recorded kids show. Their backs were to her, so they didn’t acknowledge her right away. She hung back by the entrance, sickness returning to her stomach as she listened to the soft giggles of her children . Suddenly, Joseph spoke up.  
  
“Are you going to join us?” he asked not bothering to turn around to look at her. His question was soft, her children listening. She acknowledged this as well, answering back gently.  
  
“Not tonight … I’m a bit tired from being out all day. I’m gonna go to bed.”  
  
“Alright Sweetheart. I’ll see you later tonight.”  
  
“Mmm …” Mary turned, ready to head upstairs when Joseph interrupted her once more.  
  
“Honey?” he asked.  
  
She frowned. “Yes?”  
  
“I love you.”  
  
His words stabbed her deeply and although she couldn’t see his face, she knew he was putting on a mask for her kids. She stood rooted for a moment, clenching a fist silently. She had never felt more trapped than when she realized he had never said those words truthfully. It was a weapon; something to keep her from completely abandoning her family and to learn her place in his eyes. All she was to him was collateral damage to whatever he was planning.  
  
“I love you too” she said, before turning around and escaping to her room for some solitude. Closing the bedroom door, she pressed her ear against it, listening for footsteps. Hearing nothing but silence, she let out a stiff breath and began to undress for the night. Letting her skirt pool at her feet, she stepped out of it and put on a pair of pajama pants. She didn’t normally wear pants to bed and felt a little more comfortable in a nightgown. But Joseph didn’t offer her a safe space to sleep so exposed.  
  
She then began to remove her shirt, wincing at a dull aching pain on her arm. Tossing her shirt aside, she stepped to her full length mirror, examining her bandaged shoulder. She ran her other hand over them, realizing that they needed to be changed but not having the energy to do it that night. She decided to save it for the morning when Joseph was down in the basement and her children were at school.  
  
Putting on her pajama shirt and a shawl, she sat in bed, staring at the wall across the room. After a while, she grabbed her makeup bag from the nightstand and slowly cleaned her face.  
  
She visibly flinched when Joseph entered the room.  
  
He didn’t acknowledge her and instead prepared for bed. She kept her gaze down, doing her best to put her bag away as her hands trembled. It didn’t take long before he lay down on his side of the bed, pulling the sheets up to get comfortable. Mary did the same, turning away from him as he shut off the light, enveloping the room in darkness.  
  
“Goodnight” he said. She could feel his eyes on her and she couldn’t help but tense her body.  
  
“Goodnight,” she said softly.


	6. Know Thy Neighbor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone! wow, sorry that took a little while. been busy with school and such. but i finally got the energy to finish this chapter. i hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think ~ <3

“So are you gonna go?”  
  
“I dunno … I’m pretty tired today.”   
  
“Is that really the reason?”   
  
“Eh … partially. To be honest, I don’t like Mr. Christiansen.”   
  
“Well … my dad is having me go, and … I haven’t seen you in a while. I really miss you.”   
  
Carmen sighed quietly, her gaze on the floor. She was sat at Hazel’s desk, one hand holding up her phone to her ear while the other fidgeted with her pants. Despite having her other calls ignored, Daisy decided to call once more. Luckily, Carmen answered and the two got to talking about what they had been up to. It didn't take long to get to the news that Joseph was throwing a birthday party for his twins in the coming weekend.   
  
Carmen was not excited about it in the slightest.   
  
“I miss you too” she said finally. “But … I don’t know if I have it in me to be surrounded by people yet.”   
  
“Is Mr. Cahn going?”   
  
“Mmm” Carmen hummed. “He’s probably gonna ask me to go once he comes back from his ex’s place this afternoon.”   
  
“Well, I can’t lie to you and say it’s gonna be fun and that you’ll be missing out if you don’t show up” Daisy said. “But something tells me it’s definitely gonna be different that the other parties Mr. Christiansen throws.”   
  
Carmen rolled her eyes a bit. “Well yeah, because my dad won’t be there.” She paused, frowning. “You know, my dad told me about the first time he went to a party after my mom died.”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Yeah. He said it felt … intrusive. He said he felt eyes on him, even after he left. Like he was some kind of animal at a zoo. Like everyone was disappointed he wouldn’t do his tricks anymore to humor them.” Daisy stayed silent, mulling over her words. Carmen continued after another heavy sigh. “I know this wouldn’t be the same because I know people care about what’s been going on but … I dunno. I feel sick thinking about it.”   
  
“Well …” Daisy said after a long pause. “Whatever you decide, I support you. I really care about you.”   
  
“Yeah I know … thanks.”   
  
“Of course.”   
  
Carmen changed the subject to something a little more neutral and they decided to talk about school. She was surprised she didn’t miss much. Normally, there was some kind of big event that usually involved Ernest and Lucien. But Daisy came up with nothing.   
  
“The whole school has been … quiet” she said. “Not that people aren’t misbehaving, but it doesn’t seem as grand as before. My suspicions are it’s because of what’s happened.”   
  
“I bet there’s a lot of gossip about me though” Carmen said with a sneer. “No one there really knows me and I bet they’re talking all kinds of crap behind my back as if they do.”   
  
Daisy laughed nervously. “There has been … some. But I’ve made sure to squash any that’s come my way. It’s all baseless conjecture.”   
  
“I appreciate it …” Carmen was about to ask Daisy something else, when she heard the front door open. She perked up, much less tense now that she knew Craig was home. “Ah, I have to go” she said. “Craig is back.”   
  
“Alright, I hope we can talk again soon?” Daisy asked, hopeful. Carmen thought momentarily.   
  
“Ah … maybe.”   
  
“I can accept that. Bye!”   
  
“Bye!” Hanging up, she checked her phone for any missed messages before pocketing it and headed out to the living room. She instantly stopped in her tracks when she realized he hadn’t come back alone.   
  
“Hi Carmen!” Briar and Hazel greeted simultaneously.   
  
“H-Hey!” she waved back, not sure if she was more excited or exhausted at the sight of more people in the house. “It’s been a while …”   
  
“Too long!” Hazel quipped. “I almost forgot what you looked like.”   
  
“I almost forgot what dad’s house looked like” Briar added. “Definitely too clean.”   
  
“Girls, that’s enough” Craig said, placing a grocery bag down on the dining table. “Can you give me and Carmen some privacy? I need to talk to her about something.” Briar and Hazel pouted, but accepted his request. The headed off to their room, stopping halfway to pull Carmen into a quick group hug. She accepted it, realizing how starved she was of contact. Maybe Daisy was right.   
  
Watching the two leave, Craig sighed and took a seat on the couch. He patted the seat next to him, inviting Carmen over for their chat. She wasted no time and plopped next to him expectantly. Craig started with a frown.   
  
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the girls coming over to stay” he said. “It was … sort of last minute. Ash looked exhausted and the girls looked like they were ready to break out of the house for something different.” he muttered, guilt in his tone. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them and I couldn’t leave them again. So I offered to take them for the weekend. I hope you understand.”   
  
“N-No, of course I do” Carmen quickly reassured him, a pit in her stomach. She felt like she was intruding on his family. “I’m … I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you from your family …”   
  
“No, this isn’t your fault at all!” Craig said, surprised. “You did nothing wrong. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”   
  
“Are you sure?”   
  
“Of course baby girl.” Craig offered a gentle smile. He reached over, patting her head gently to reassure her that he was serious. She managed a smile, relaxing at bit. “I know it’s going to be a little tough and they’ll want to hang out with you more than usual, but I’ll make sure they give you space.”   
  
“Thanks.”   
  
A slight pause settled between them and Craig decided now was the best time to bring up his main concern. “So, listen” he started. “I know by now you’ve already heard about Joseph’s get together.” Carmen nodded. “The fact of the matter is, I don’t want to force you to do something you don’t want. I wouldn’t do it to my own kids and I’m not gonna do it to you.” He paused, thinking about his next few words. Carmen watched him silently. “He’s invited us and if you had the energy, I would want you to at least get some fresh air while we’re there. Maybe socialize a little with the other kids. But if you don’t want to, we can stay home, order pineapple pizza and watch whatever mind numbing show is on tv.”   
  
Carmen couldn’t help but smile a little. “You’re such a liar” she said with a chuckle. “You’d never order pineapple pizza.”   
  
“Maybe not for myself” Craig admitted with a look of embarrassment. “But I know it’s your favorite kind of pizza.”   
  
Carmen nodded, and looked down at her hands as she began to seriously consider his offer. Staying home did seem very tempting. She wouldn’t have to pretend to be okay or be overwhelmed with the company of other people. But, she would be letting down her best friend by getting too comfortable being a complete hermit. Realistically, she would have to leave the house at some point. A get together with people she felt lukewarm about wasn’t the ideal starting point, but it was all she had to work with.   
  
After a long period of consideration, she took a deep breath and looked back up at Craig. “I guess I can go” she said. Craig blinked surprised with her answer.   
  
“Really? He asked. “N-Not that I mind, I guess I didn’t expect such a fast answer.”   
  
Carmen shrugged. “Me neither … just, can you promise me something?”   
  
“Sure …” Craig said carefully, raising a confused eyebrow.   
  
“If anything happens …” she said slowly. “... anything weird … I want to leave right away. Is that okay?”   
  
Craig nodded. “Of course, baby girl.”   
  
Carmen smiled, a feeling of safety washing over her from the affectionate name. “Thanks.”   
  
…   
  
Craig and Carmen couldn’t help but tense up the second they stepped into the Christiansen backyard. Out of common courtesy, they had taken the time to go out and buy a gift for his kids and a party platter for the potluck. They were both generic, but they figured Joseph was going to appreciate the thought. Dropping off the gift in the large pile, they shuffled on over to the snacks table and began to lay out their platter. Hazel and Briar prepared to run off to meet up with the other kids, Carmen declining politely to follow.

"Are you sure?" Hazel asked.

Carmen nodded. "I'll uh ... meet up in a minute. I just wanna get a little more comfortable."

"Suit yourself!" Briar chimed in. The two waved at her and Craig, running off at lightning speed.

“You alright?” Craig asked Carmen in a hushed tone. She stood close to him, her grip tight on the hem of his shirt as if she was afraid he would suddenly vanish.   
  
“Yeah I’m okay” she lied, her eyes scanning the rest of the backyard. Most of the neighborhood was already there. She spotted Daisy watching Ernest and Lucien do … something, but didn’t seem interested in stopping them.   
  
_Karma will get them in trouble like usual ..._   
  
“Carmen! Craig!” The two turned, watching Joseph jog up to them with his usual sunny demeanor. “I’m so glad you could make it ~”   
  
“Yeah of course” Craig said, unconsciously pulling his arm loosely around Carmen’s shoulder. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”   
  
“You’re too kind” Joseph said with a chuckle. He turned his attention to Carmen, reaching down to pat her head with a heavy hand. She grimaced, but hid it with a small smile. “How have you been my dear?”   
  
“I-I’ve been okay” she said, reaching up to fix her hat after he backed off.   
  
“That’s so nice to hear ~” Joseph smiled. Craig looked around, noticing a few missing faces.   
  
“Ah … where’s Mary and Robert?” he asked. Joseph shrugged, frowning.   
  
“Robert perhaps is sleeping off another hangover. Personally, I don’t expect him to show up. Mary on the other hand, she’s been feeling a tad ill these past few days. But I’m sure she’ll come out for our children’s birthday eventually.” He tilted his head. “Why do you ask?”   
  
“No reason” Craig chuckled nervously. “I just noticed they weren’t around, that’s all. It’s been a while since Carmen and I have been around anyone so it was kind of the first thing I noticed …”   
  
“Understandable” Joseph nodded sympathetically. “It must take a lot for you two to have shown up at all. I hope the excitement of the afternoon doesn’t scare you off.”   
  
“I’m sure we’ll be able to manage.”   
  
“Good to hear.” Joseph patted Craig on the shoulder, both of them exchanging smiles. “Well, I must see how the other guests are doing. Enjoy yourselves ~” With that, Joseph left the two of them alone, both of them letting out a small sigh of relief.   
  
“You okay?” Craig asked Carmen. She shrugged, trying to decide for a moment.   
  
“I’m fine. As long as I don’t have to talk to him anymore …”   
  
“He might be too busy with everyone else to bother you” Craig reassured. “So I think you’re okay.” He looked around, noticing Daisy. “Oh hey, there’s Daisy. She’s going to be excited to see you.”   
  
“Yeah …” She made to move, but hesitated, looking up at Craig as if asking for permission.   
  
He smiled at her. “Don’t worry baby girl, I’ll be here if you need anything.”   
  
“Right … okay.” Carmen took a deep breath, gathered her confidence and let her legs carry her off to mingle. She definitely looked awkward, but Craig wasn’t about to criticize her. Instead, he hung back by the snacks table and looked over his choices. Feeling more thirsty than anything, he poured himself a cup of fruit punch.   
  
Suddenly, he jumped, feeling a very small presence appear next to him. He looked down, meeting Chris’ eyes as they bore deep into his soul. “O-Oh, hello” he greeted, taking a step back to create some distance. “How are … you?”   
  
Chris didn’t answer right away, his gaze drifting onto the cup in Craig’s hand. He frowned. “I wouldn’t drink that if I were you” he finally said, thoroughly creeping out Craig.   
  
“I-I’m sorry?” Craig said, blinking. “Why not? What’s … what’s wrong with it?” He looked down at the drink, swirling it a little as if expecting to find something under the surface. Chris slowly blinked, taking his time to answer.   
  
“You’ll forget, just like the others.” Before Craig could push him further, Chris walked off, disappearing among the crowd. Craig stood there, examining his drink with a slight grimace. Joseph’s kids were always a little weird, but he wasn’t about to take a chance and he placed his drink back on the table.   
  
_Maybe I’ll wait until someone else drinks it and see what happens. Just to be safe._   
  
Deciding instead to grab himself a water bottle, Craig took a couple sips before someone else noticed him.   
  
“Ah, Craig!” Hugo said happily, a pleased look on his face as he approached the other man. “It’s good to see you again after so long.”   
  
“I’m sure it hasn’t been that long” Craig said with a chuckle. “But it is good to see you as well.”   
  
“How have you been?” Hugo asked.   
  
“I’ve been ... better” Craig said. “I still haven’t decided if coming here was a good idea.”   
  
“I can understand that” Hugo agreed, his eye wandering to watch Ernest talking to Lucien and Carmen. “How has Carmen been? This is the first time I’ve seen her in a couple weeks.”   
  
“Better” Craig perked up, much more confident in his answer. “I mean, she’s not back 100%, but she wanted to come out today, so I would say that’s progress.”   
  
“Mmm” A moment of silence followed before Hugo let out a tiny sigh. “It definitely hasn’t been the same …” He gave Craig a somber look. “I’m not sure how long the rest of us can go on pretending that things are going to turn out okay.”   
  
Craig could feel his stomach drop, his jaw tightening. “It’ll be fine” he tried to say firmly. “He’ll turn up again. I’m sure of it.”   
  
“Craig, as much as I want to agree with you” Hugo said, lowering his voice, “there’s a logical progression to these kinds of things. The longer someone goes missing, the less of a chance you have of finding them. Even if we did find him at this point, It’s been a month since he’s disappeared. Unless fate has been kind to him, it’s very likely he’ll come back in a body bag.”   
  
Craig grimaced, bowing his head and shutting his eyes tightly. “Y-Yeah …” he muttered, clearing his tight throat. “I know … I know how these usually end up but … I can’t wrap my head around the timeline of events.”   
  
“You saw him the night he disappeared, yes?” Hugo asked, shifting into detective mode.   
  
“Yeah. We went out on a walk after it stopped raining all day.”   
  
“Did anything seem off to you?” Hugo asked. “Anything unusual about his behavior?”   
  
“No, it was all pleasant.” Craig shrugged. “I mean, it wasn’t perfect of course. We’ve been dealing with a few things between us, but that night was supposed to be a turning point. Nothing he said to me foreshadowed this kind of thing happening.”   
  
“And Carmen?”   
  
“She said she hadn’t noticed anything was wrong until a couple days later. Their schedules didn’t always line up and she was trying to give him space anyway. So she kept to herself.”   
  
Hugo nodded, not happy with the dead end, but accepting it regardless. “I can’t imagine what’s going on in her head” he muttered. “If things go south … who knows where she’ll go. As far as I’m aware, they have no other family out here.”   
  
“I’m watching her for the time being” Craig interjected. “Maybe … I don’t know … I can become her guardian.”   
  
“That’s very generous of you” Hugo said, smiling a little. “I’m sure she’d appreciate that.”   
  
“Yeah …”   
  
The two spoke for a little while longer before Hugo decided to let him go on his own. Craig wasn’t ready to talk to someone else, but he didn’t want to follow Hugo around and get into his personal space.   
  
Instead, he entered conversation with a few other people, hoping they would help pass the time. For the most part, it seemed to go pretty well. Damien talked about his vegetable garden, Brian had several fishing stories and Joseph talked about boats. Craig didn’t always have something to contribute to every conversation, but no one seemed to mind.   
  
But as each conversation died down, Craig quickly realized what everyone really wanted to talk about. “How are you holding up?” They would ask, referring to Mat’s disappearance. Craig smiled politely, reiterating his usual answer. This led to the same series of remarks.   
  
“It must be tough.”   
  
“Everything feels so different without him around.”   
  
“I wonder how Carmen is doing.”   
  
By the end of it, Craig felt fatigued. He tried to change the topic, but somehow the conversation would always swing back to Mat. Craig knew everyone was as concerned as he was about the whole thing. But at this point, it felt like going through the motions with the same questions and the same responses.   
  
“Do you blame yourself?”   
  
Craig blinked, suddenly realizing he was still talking to Joseph. “What?” he asked.   
  
Joseph smiled. “Do you blame yourself for him disappearing?”   
  
“I … no, of course not” he said, shaking his head. Joseph nodded slowly, thinking.   
  
“It’s a common reaction to those who were the last to see a victim” he stated matter of factly. “They often ask themselves if whoever was missing would have been better off if they hadn’t met with them.”   
  
Craig shifted nervously on his feet, looking at the ground. “I mean … for a while I did. I thought that it was my fault he was gone because I had thought to take him out on a walk that night. But …” he put on a serious expression. “I don’t think that way anymore. What happened was out of my control. Blaming myself won’t do anything to help.” He sounded rehearsed and he could tell Joseph was thinking the same thing. But his opinion didn’t matter to Craig. It was the truth and he was going to stand by it.   
  
“Did anyone see you with him that night?” Joseph asked.   
  
“No I … I don’t think so.”   
  
“So you don’t have an alibi?”   
  
Craig blinked, feeling a shift in the air between them. Joseph stared at him, the intention behind his gaze strange and unreadable. “... No, I don’t.”   
  
“Hm, strange …”   
  
“You don’t … seriously think I’m behind all this, do you?” Craig asked, growing a mixture of hurt and annoyed.   
  
"No, but it's a necessary question to ask."   
  
"That sounds like you're suspecting me of whatever the hell happened to him."   
  
“No, that's not what I meant!” Joseph said, raising his hands in defense. “I was just trying to rule out people. I know you’d never hurt him.”   
  
Craig didn’t answer, staring down the much smaller Joseph. He stepped back, suddenly very aware of how much stronger Craig was compared to him. This was no longer a pleasant conversation and Craig felt very tired. “I need some alone time.”   
  
“O-Of course, you can go inside” Joseph gestured to the house. He said something else, but at this point Craig had already shut him out. Stepping inside, the noise of the outside became muffled after he closed the sliding door. He sighed, feeling a weariness in his body. For a moment, he wanted to see if he could find Mary. He hadn’t seen her yet and he had gotten a little concerned. But this wasn’t his house and he figured Joseph would know if he went snooping in places he didn’t belong.   
  
Looking around, he forgot where the bathroom was and he decided to start opening doors.   
  
_So much for not snooping._   
  
The first two doors he found led to closets and another one led to a bedroom. The last door was off in a corner somewhere and it seemed to open to a rickety old set of stairs. Figuring it was the basement, he closed it quick. He never liked basements and he moved on upstairs to the rest of house.   
  
It took a few more guesses, but he finally managed to find a bathroom. Locking the door, he sat on the toilet and became aware of his body. He felt heavy, his heart at a steady, but hard pace against his chest. He didn’t want to feel frazzled by the party and especially by Joseph’s line of questioning, but he didn’t have time to compartmentalize until now.   
  
“Craig?” came Joseph’s voice from outside the door. Craig tensed up, rolling his eyes before answering him.   
  
“I’m in here.”   
  
“Oh, alright.” Joseph’s voice came closer; he must have been standing in front of the door at this point. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”   
  
“I’m fine.”   
  
“Very well, I’ll leave you to it then.” Craig listened to Joseph’s footsteps on the hardwood floor become softer as he left.   
  
“Jesus …” he mumbled, blinking his eyes a few times. The room seemed to shift, his vision subtly tunneling. He furrowed his brow, his hands resting tightly on his knees for stability. He could feel his face heat up and it was then that he realized he was about to have another anxiety attack. He went numb, his breathing getting shorter and shorter until he was almost gasping for air. His entire frame shook and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to will it away.   
  
_You’re fine, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay ..._   
  
The silence of the bathroom rung in his ears and for the longest time, it felt like he no longer had a physical body. His muscles tensed and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t move from where he sat. Then, slowly, it all started to fade. His breathing became much deeper and his nausea went away. His chest started to feel less painful and muscles relaxed. Keeping his eyes closed, he sat as still as possible, letting his body return to its natural state of being.   
  
It was an agonizingly slow process, but soon he could sense himself back in the present moment. He took a deep breath, exhaling. He could begin to feel his feet and hands again and he became grounded once more in reality. Halfway through, his heart jumped in his throat when his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Ash, not now …” he muttered, pulling it out and expecting to see her face on his screen.   
  
It was Mat.   
  
Craig was sure this was the fastest he had ever answered, his focus now shifting as the call connected. “M-Mat?!” he answered frantically. “Mat is that you?!” A heavy grunt answered him, followed by silence. Craig pressed the phone closer to his ear, afraid to miss anything. “Mat?!” he asked again, his heart pounding at lightning speed. “Please baby, answer me!” The phone was silent for what seemed like ages and Craig checked to see that he was still connected. He could hear a distant thud with another loud set of grunts that seemed to be more in pain. Then, faintly, Craig heard a voice.   
  
“I thought I told you not to misbehave while I was gone.”   
  
He listened to the phone move, then abruptly end. Craig stared wide eyed, forgetting to breathe for a good minute. His entire body jolted with adrenaline, his grip on the phone shaky; he was surprised he managed to hold on tight. Coming back to his senses, he quickly redialed Mat’s number.   
  
“Fuck!” he yelled angrily, hearing the voicemail message. Hanging up, it took all his willpower not to throw his phone and potentially shatter it. Instead, he sat on the toilet and put his head in his hands.   
  
_That was him,_ Craig thought, his mind now racing at top speed. _That had to have been him. He’s alive, he’s not dead._ He looked up at the ceiling, a pain in his chest from how hard his heart was thumping. _But that other voice … they’ve got him somewhere. But where? Who the fuck took him?_ _  
_ _  
_ _What do I do?_   
  
He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, time unimportant to him. So much was going on in his mind that he went blank, completely detached from his sense of self. For a moment, he started to doubt what had actually happened.   
  
_Maybe this didn’t happen …_ He held his breath, checking his call history. There, plain as day, was a record of Mat having called him about 30 minutes ago. He reread the name several times, as if trying to convince himself that it wasn’t there. Mat’s name was forever recorded in his phone, calling for help.   
  
_He needs my help_ .   
  
Craig, hit with the sudden realization, stood up quickly. “He needs me” he breathed out, the reality finally setting in that everything could turn out okay after all. He felt a renewed sense of vigor that Mat could return safe and sound. But, he knew the stakes were even higher at this point. Whoever was holding him hostage didn’t sound happy at all over the phone. He wasn’t sure what they were doing to him, but he wasn’t confident they would leave it at that.   
  
He had to act fast if he was going to have any chance at rescuing him.   
  
Stuffing his phone in his pocket, Craig wrenched the door open and made his way back to the party with quick steps. He could feel himself fog up from the adrenaline, but he had to keep his head on straight if he was going to get help. Now in public once more, he did his best to look like he wasn’t about to pass out from the excitement.   
  
“C-Craig?” He focused at his name, his eyes falling on Hugo. He stared at Craig, holding up his hands as if to catch his shaking form. “Craig are you alright? You look pale.”   
  
Craig approached him and he could feel Hugo’s sudden grip on his arms. He shook, then nodded his head, earning a confused look from the other man.   
  
“W-We need to talk somewhere. Anywhere else that isn’t here” he managed to say in a steady, quiet voice. Hugo nodded and guided Craig around a corner of the house, next to the gate that lead back out to the sidewalk. Letting him go, Hugo stepped back and watched him with a concerned expression.   
  
“What’s going on?” he asked in a hushed tone, glancing back towards the rest of the party to make sure no one had followed them. Craig ran a shaking hand down his clammy face. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at his reflection on the dark surface.   
  
“Mat” he started. “Mat … he called me. Just now.”   
  
“What?” Hugo hissed, a mix of excitement and dread instantly filling him. “What happened? What did he say? Are you sure it was him?”   
  
Craig shook his head, his brow furrowing. “He didn’t say anything, but I heard him grunting and making these noises like he was panicked. I … I also heard another voice.” He locked eyes with Hugo. “Someone’s keeping him hostage somewhere.”   
  
“Did you recognize the other voice?” Hugo asked quietly.   
  
“It sounded … familiar” Craig admitted, his heart racing once more. “But it was so far away, I couldn’t tell.”   
  
“But you recognized the sound of it” Hugo pointed out. “You potentially know the culprit.”   
  
“Maybe … I don’t know” Craig sighed heavily, putting his phone away. “He’s alive, but who knows what they’re doing to him. Who knows how long he’ll …” He paused, unable to finish his own thought. Hugo reached over, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.   
  
“We have to tell someone about this” he said. “The more people know about this, the better chance we have of rescuing him.” He looked back out to the direction of the backyard. “Joseph seems to be the self appointed ring leader in all this so -”   
  
“N-No” Craig cut in, a new kind of dread filling his stomach. “I don’t want to tell him about this.”   
  
“Why not?” Hugo blinked in surprise.   
  
“...Carmen doesn’t like his involvement” he said. “Up until now, she’s been telling me about how she doesn’t … like him. Especially since Mat’s disappeared. I don’t want to get him more involved than he is already.”   
  
“Craig, you can’t do this all on your own” Hugo insisted gently. “Keeping this kind of vital information to yourself could be more of a detriment than you realize.”   
  
“I just don’t think Joseph has any business knowing about it” Craig said truthfully. “It’s been a month and we haven’t heard anything about anything. Part of me feels like he’s ignoring this whole situation.” An idea came to mind. “You and I though … I’m sure we can figure out what’s been going on.”   
  
“Me?” Hugo looked surprised, pointing at himself. “Craig, this is a lot of speculation you’re running off on. We don’t actually know that Joseph is being underhanded.”   
  
“But you have to admit he’s shady as all hell” Craig pressed. “The first thing that came out of his mouth was that he didn’t want any of us involved. That he’d ‘take care of it.’ You don’t think that’s weird?”   
  
“It was … definitely a strange request. We would have to keep our distance from Joseph if that’s the case” Hugo sighed. “He won’t like the idea of us snooping around on our own.”   
  
“Do you think that’s for a reason?” Craig asked. “Do you think he’s …?”   
  
“Hiding something?” Hugo raised an eyebrow, thinking about it for a long moment. “I would be lying if I said I have complete trust in him.”   
  
“Will you help me out then?” Craig gave his best desperate face, frowning deeply. Hugo looked up in thought and shrugged.   
  
“Yeah okay. I’m in.”   
  
“R-Really?” Craig perked up, not at all expecting that turn around.   
  
Hugo smirked, adjusting his glasses. “I figured there was a reason Ernest picks on him the most out of everyone in the neighborhood. The man is definitely odd in his own way.”   
  
Craig nodded in agreement. He could feel himself relax, but there was still one thing that was weighing on him. “...What about Carmen? Should I tell her about what happened?”   
  
Hugo crossed his arms, falling into deep, serious thought. “Hm … I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that. If you tell her, it might upset her and cause more harm than good if you can’t follow up on it for her. If you don’t, well … you'll be fighting with the moral side of things. Not to mention if you do keep it to yourself and she finds out about it, she could become upset and distrust you.” His mustache twitched. “It feels like a lose/lose situation.”   
  
“Yeah, you’re right …” Craig didn’t particularly like those odds, but he had to figure out something soon.   
  
“Come on” Hugo said after a short pause. “We’ve been here for a while. People might start wondering where we went.” Craig nodded and followed Hugo back out.   
  
Turning the corner, they came face to face with Joseph.   
  
“Oh!” Hugo blurted out, both he and Craig stopping dead in their tracks. Joseph stood, unperturbed, his hands clasped in front of him. His left hand seemed to have been recently bandaged, but neither wanted to ask what happened.   
  
“Well hello again ~” He said, his smile tight across his face. “What are you two up to back here?”   
  
“We saw Ernest messing about over here earlier” Hugo lied. “Craig decided to check it out with me before something happened.”   
  
“Oh?” Joseph blinked. “And … is everything alright? My lawn isn’t in danger of going up in flames again, is it?”   
  
“We didn’t see anything suspicious” Craig chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “If we do though, we’ll keep you posted.”   
  
“Of course, I would appreciate that.”   
  
With a polite nod, Hugo and Craig moved past Joseph and emerged themselves back into the party. Deciding to let go of the event for now, the two managed to settle back into casual conversation with the others. It was pretty convincing and no one had a reason to press them about any potential odd behavior.   
  
Every now and again, Craig would watch Carmen, his mind churning with what to do.   
  
_She seems to have taken to the company pretty well …_ he thought, watching her laugh at something Lucien said. The two were sitting in a circle with Ernest, Daisy and the twins, each of them swapping stories. He thought it was odd that they were all hanging out together, but he chalked it up to Carmen and her situation.   
  
Despite everything, they expressed sympathy and Carmen seemed content in this moment.   
  
“She looks happy.”   
  
Craig jumped, turning at the voice. He met Mary’s gaze, the usual glass of wine in her hands. Her expression was soft, but not passive. “A-Ah, yeah she does” he said, clearing his throat. “How are you?”   
  
Mary shrugged, swirling her drink. “I’m alive. That’s all I can really be grateful for at the moment … also my kids I guess.” Craig nodded slowly, returning his attention to Carmen. Mary decided she wasn’t interested in conversation anymore and went to mingle elsewhere. He considered briefly telling her about what had happened, but decided to wait. Having Hugo know was enough for now and Craig felt confident that the two of them could come up with something. It felt a little underhanded to do it without Joseph's knowledge, but Craig felt better about it in the long run.   
  
Something about Joseph just seemed ... off.   
  
…   
  
The rest of the party went on without much more excitement. Carmen was comfortable enough to stay the rest of the evening, even if she was getting exhausted. By the end of the night, she had decided to reunite with Craig and stay close. Together, they watched as Joseph’s kids opened up their gifts, blew out the candles and subsequently get cake all over their clothes. Joseph looked exacerbated, but brushed it off as kids being kids.   
  
Finally, it was time to go home.   
  
Saying their goodbyes, Craig and Carmen walked down the sidewalk together, her hand gripping his gently. Ahead of them walked Briar and Hazel, engrossed in their own personal conversation.

They stayed quiet for a while, Carmen eventually speaking up. “My dad would take me out on walks a lot” she said almost absentmindedly. “It was always my favorite thing to do with him.”   
  
“Really?” Craig asked, smiling a little. She nodded, smiling back at him.   
  
“He seemed most at peace on our walks and it always made me feel better when he was okay.”   
  
“Maybe I should take you out on more walks then,” Craig suggested.   
  
She thought quietly, moving closer to lay her head against his arm. “Yeah … I’d like that.”


	7. Idle Hands Are the Devil's Workshop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I know it's been a while, but here I am ~ School has been going pretty well, but it's taken a lot of my focus for the past month. Anyway, its nanowrimo so I'm hoping to get another chapter or two of this out for the month so look out for that. Anyway please enjoy this chapter ~ i hope it was worth the extended wait ^^

Mary stepped out the front door, careful to make sure no one else was out this early to catch her. With the coast clear, she took light steps and walked at a quick pace down the sidewalk, her purse knocking heavily against her hip. She had done this for a whole month now, but she was always the same amount of anxious.

She couldn’t afford to get caught, especially by Craig.

She liked him, but he had already gotten too close to things and if he found her doing this, he’d ask questions that she couldn’t wiggle her way out of, no matter how good she was at lying. She didn’t need that kind of incrimination, especially if it found its way back to Joseph. After all, she practically had to beg him to be able to do this and if she messed up, he would remind her of that fact and would be less than forgiving.

Thankfully, the walk was always short and it wasn’t long before she was fishing out Robert’s keys from her purse, and unlocked his front door.

She hadn’t even opened it more than an inch or two before she could see a frantic snout try to push its way through, Betsy whimpering that she had company again. “Shh, Betsy” Mary said with a slight laugh, trying to keep the Boston Terrier from escaping out the door with excitement. Somehow, she slid into the house, closing the door quickly behind her. Betsy, full of energy, bounded around the living room, her tail wagging so fast that Mary was afraid it was just gonna snap off any minute. Resisting the urge to just sit on the ground and pet Betsy forever, Mary made her way across the living room and into the kitchen where she found Betsy’s empty food and water bowl. Crouching down, she dug into her purse and pulled out a half empty bag of dog food. She poured a hefty amount into one of the bowls  and filled the other with fresh water from a water bottle.

“There you go girl” she said, satisfied with her work. She looked around, not hearing the pitter patter of dog feet, even after the commotion she made to fill the bowls back up. “Betsy?” The house was quiet, Mary realizing that Betsy hadn’t even bothered following her around. Sighing, she stood back up and returned to the living room. Betsy was stood to attention at the front door, watching it intensely. Mary frowned, her heart aching. “No one else is coming” she said. Betsy, being a dog of course, didn’t pay attention to her and remained as still as a statue.

Mary stood there, watching the dog remain eager for more company. She knew who Betsy was waiting for and she knew she would have to disappoint her all over again when she left. It was the same scenario every morning and Mary was beginning to feel the urge to just take Betsy back to the house with her. At the very least, Betsy could have company with her kids and she wouldn’t be so alone.

Of course, Joseph wouldn’t allow it and having a dog running around unhinged would be an incredible liability for his plans. Betsy wasn’t exactly the smartest dog in town, but she could find things meant to be secret and get in the way of Joseph’s work.

She had to be the ‘good housewife’ in this scenario and leave the urge alone.

Sighing, she had to accept that her work was done for the day and she needed to get back home. Betsy didn’t even move an inch as Mary walked past her, opening the front door once more. Taking one last look at the hopeful eyes of Betsy, Mary shut and locked the front door and paused. “Here it comes …” she mumbled to herself, leaning against the door. A short moment passed before she could hear Betsy whine inside, her barks long and sorrowful. Using all of her strength, Mary blocked out the lonely cries and marched back onto the sidewalk and back home.

Making it back in record time, Mary released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding and heavily placed her purse on the entrance side table. Running her fingers gently through her hair, she trudged through to the kitchen in search of some breakfast. She stopped in front of the fridge and opened it, her eyes wandering over mostly leftovers and some browning vegetables. The rest were small snacks for the kids and of course the serums Joseph was concocting. She never understood why he wouldn’t just dedicate his own fridge to his work, but she supposed it was some kind of power play against her; a reminder that she was under his control as well.

Grimacing at the thought, she carefully pushed his things aside and reached for a yogurt that sat idly in the back.

“Did anyone see you?”

Mary nearly jumped out of her skin, spinning around at the source of the sudden voice. Her wide eyes locked onto Joseph, who held a serious expression. “J-Joseph” she stammered, putting a hand to her heart. Letting out a quick breath, she immediately turned her surprise into annoyance. “Don’t fucking do that to me so early in the morning.”

“Sorry Princess, I’ll try to be more mindful next time” he cooed patronizingly, watching as she slipped out from between him and the fridge to create some space. “Did anyone see you?” he repeated.

“No of course not” Mary muttered, pulling out a spoon from a drawer. “I’m not an idiot.”

“That’s debatable” Joseph mused, Mary shooting him a deep glare.

“You didn’t kill them while I was gone, did you?” She asked, taking the subject off of herself as quickly as possible.

“I have no intention of killing them” Joseph said, crossing his arms. “They’re more useful if I keep them alive.”

Mary stirred her yogurt idly, a small frown creasing her face. “It’s just hard to tell sometimes. You don’t always make sure they’ve had something to eat or enough sleep …”

“I said alive, not pampered” Joseph waved off. “As long as their hearts are still beating, it doesn’t matter to me if they ate yesterday or a week ago. That’s irrelevant.”

“Clearly …” Mary hesitated before speaking again. “... So … what exactly are you planning on doing to them? What is all this going to amount to in the end?” Joseph chuckled softly, sending a tingle up Mary’s spine.

“I don’t know why you keep asking me that, Sweetheart. I’m never going to tell you.”

“You don’t think I can be an asset to you if I knew?” Mary said too quickly to stop herself. She really had no intention of getting involved, but the longer she was left in the dark, the more she wanted to know. She wouldn’t be able to do much with the information as it stood right now, but if there was a chance to get them out, she wanted to be prepared.

“You’re barely an asset to me now” Joseph grunted. “On a good day, you’re an incredible nuisance.”

“Maybe it’s because I know jack shit about what you’re doing.”

“What makes you think you’ll be useful if I told you?”

Mary went silent, trying to come up with something. Joseph slowly cocked an eyebrow, watching her with an unimpressed expression. “I know how you get when you’re neck deep in one of these ‘projects.’ You start to get cocky, thinking no one will ever catch you.”

“So far, that holds true.”

“So far. But what if you slip up? You were lucky last time because no one in the neighborhood was clever enough to figure out what happened to the new guy before you buried him in the backyard.”

“What makes you think this time is going to be different?” Joseph huffed, already getting annoyed with the conversation. “You’re just imagining a worst case scenario.”

“Cahn is poking around” Mary said. “And no doubt he’s already got some people getting suspicious as well.”

“You’re giving him too much credit” Joseph rolled his eyes. “He hasn’t even figured out -” He suddenly stopped himself, regaining his composure with a smile and a laugh. “Ah, nevermind. That’s not relevant information yet.”

“Joseph” Mary said firmly, trying to get his attention back. “Listen to me.”

Her harsh tone didn’t ring pleasantly in his ears and he locked eyes with her, narrowing his gaze. His smile disappeared. “Don’t take that tone with me” he said, making her take a small step back. She shied away for a moment, but regained her stance.

“Look …” she said, trying not to sound so authoritarian. “I’m … I’m offering to take any downfall off of you. If things get hairy and you get caught, I’ll take all the blame and you can stay a free man.”

“Oh?” Joseph’s relaxed smile returned and he tapped his chin in thought. “That does sound rather enticing …”

“But I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s going on” she continued carefully, watching him mull over her words. “I have to know every detail so I can make it sound 100% convincing that this is all on me and me alone.”

The kitchen went quiet as Joseph thought. Mary stood as still as a statue, holding her breath. She was afraid if she made any kind of noise, he would change his mind. He tilted his head, breaking the tension. “Would you die protecting me?”

“W-What?” Mary blinked, caught off guard by the question. Joseph smiled, clearly enjoying her reaction.

“You say you’d be more than happy to take the blame. But what if things don’t exactly pan out where everyone lives happily ever after? Would you die for my sake?”

Mary went tight lipped, feeling her heart jump into her throat. She wasn’t expecting him to turn the conversation this way, but she couldn’t backtrack now. She needed to get into his head and if she really had to die for him, then so be it.

At least she would die knowing she did everything she could to save her friends.

Fighting the sinking feeling in her stomach, she answered him. “Yes … I’m willing to die for you.”

Joseph laughed again. “Ah, that’s what I love to hear from my darling, devoted wife ~” In one swift move, he pulled her into a painful kiss, their teeth momentarily knocking together. She instinctively put her hands on his shoulders, but stopped herself from fighting back. The kiss seemed to last forever, and she could feel his grip on her tighten; she would surely have more bruises to look forward to later on. Finally, after what seemed like years, he broke the kiss and shoved her back. She stumbled, catching herself on the countertop just behind her. Taking no notice as she regained her footing, Joseph moved to the fridge and pulled out his collection of serums. They were contained in small vials, each of the liquids some shade of pink. He picked out a vial and swirled its content around idly. “The shame of the last neighbor was that there was no reason he had to die. Everything was going according to plan and I was expecting results that very same day. But at the last second, the serum had some kind of delayed reaction and he essentially burned alive from the inside out.” Joseph shrugged at the thought. “If there’s any silver lining, at least it was while he was still here and not while I had him reintroduced to the neighborhood.”

“You … were planning on letting him go?” Mary asked quietly.

Joseph nodded. “You can’t keep people in your basement forever. Things will start to lead back to you and I can’t afford to lose everything in one fell swoop.” Joseph paused, looking out towards the living room. “Everyday those two are forgetting more and more. It’s integral I wipe them completely of any identity if I want any of this to really work.” Mary watched him, waiting for him to continue. “I’m going to disappoint you, but there isn’t anything entirely too complex in my plan. I’m not working with demons or for some other higher power that is beyond our comprehension. I am a man of God and I devote myself to him in his entirety. But that doesn’t mean I can’t play with his creations. They are flawed creatures and to exploit them is just my way of honoring the mind I’ve been gifted by our Creator.”

Mary scoffed quietly, looking off to the side. “Using the bastardization of a benevolent God to justify your actions is something I wish I could say I’m surprised to hear from you.”

“I’m not bastardizing anything” Joseph sneered. “Every decision I’ve made up until this point is one I take full ownership of. I don’t need to hide.”

Mary frowned, but decided not to argue. Joseph sighed, thinking to himself for a long minute until he continued once more. “Once I’ve entirely broken them, I’m going to subject them to intense conditioning wherein they will essentially become sleeper agents. Everything I engineer into their empty little minds will make their reintroduction into society practically seamless and any trail they have back to me will be either completely erased or forcibly repressed.”

“Sleeper agents?” Mary asked, suddenly aware of how small her voice sounded. “What for?”

Joseph tilted his head. “They sky’s the limit, isn’t it? I haven’t quite decided yet, but imagine the possibility. With a single word or phrase, I can have them become bloodthirsty criminals. With a certain smell I can have them relive every hellish memory they’ve ever had all at once until they’re writhing on the floor in abject horror. With a snap of my fingers, I can make them commit suicide in front of their loved ones.” Joseph hummed at the thought, a smile crossing his face. “Anything is possible.”

“This isn’t for some … higher goal? To accomplish anything?”

“Mary, Sweetheart” he cooed. “I’m a youth minister at the local church. I have a wonderful wife with four beautiful children. I have everything I could possibly want. You must understand that this kind of life gets so utterly boring. But with this -” he gestured towards the vial in his hand, “- with this I can finally have something to look forward to every morning. I can finally, truly have fun.”

Mary was certain that if she gripped the countertop any harder, she would have broken through the granite. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to forget everything she heard and get out of that house. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting him to say, but the idea that this man was simply toying with the others for fun was worse than any intricate plan her mind could think up. Still, her mouth forced her to ask the question.

“Why?”

Joseph blinked, his expression flat. “... why not?”

…

Mat flinched, the light above him flickering on with overwhelming intensity. He blinked a few times, trying to get used to it but settled on keeping his head down. He was sat in a wooden chair, his arms strapped down on the armrests with rope. He could feel himself trembling, not because he was scared, but because his body had gotten weaker over the days. He often times wondered why Joseph was so diligent when it came to tying him up anymore; Mat had lost most of his strength to leave long ago.

“Good morning.”

He listened to approaching footsteps, Joseph quickly taking a seat across from him. Mat kept his gaze down, not wanting to look him in the eye. The two sat in a long silence, Mat feeling Joseph’s gaze bore into him. It always began like this and after a moment longer, Joseph perked up. “Let’s begin.” He shuffled through some papers, pulling out a pen he had neatly tucked behind his ear. “What’s your name?”

Mat hesitated before answering. “Mat.”

“Full name.”

“Mat Sella.”

“Good” Joseph made a quick note on his paper, then moved onto the next question. “Do you have a family?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about them.”

“I have a daughter. Her name is Carmen. I had a wife … her name was Rosa.”

Joseph smiled. “I see.” The questions kept coming, each of them getting into more and more detail about Mat and his family. Eventually Joseph moved on to other people and it wasn’t until then that Mat started to stumble.

“Is the name Robert Small familiar to you?”

“N...No.”

“But you know who he is now?”

“Yes.”

“What about Hugo Vega? Sound familiar?”

“...No.”

“Damien Bloodmarch?”

“No.”

“Brian Harding?”

“No.”

“Craig Cahn?”

Mat didn’t answer right away, his skin prickling at the name. He could feel his fingers begin to grip the arms of the chair, his heart thumping against his ribs heavily. Joseph noticed his sudden change, and smiled slightly to himself. “Well?” Joseph asked. “Do you recognize that name?”

Mat winced. “...Yes.”

Joseph chuckled under his breath. “Tell me about him.”

“He’s a friend … we … were really close.”

“I see … and do you remember what he did?”

“No” Mat said quickly, trying to ignore his rising panic.

“Now now” Joseph chastised, waving his pen at Mat. “Don’t lie to me like that. You know what happens when you lie to me. Tell me what Craig did to you.”

“I …” Mat closed his eyes, images suddenly flashing in his mind as he began to recall his only vivid memory. “He was drunk … I brought him home to sleep it off and … and that night he came into my room …”

“What happened after that?”

“He … he raped me.” Mat slowly lifted his head and looked at Joseph. He watched the other man’s smile widen just a bit, his head tilting in amusement.

“That must be a hard thing to recall” Joseph said, his words coated in fake sympathy. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to repress something so visceral like that.”

Mat grit his teeth, biting back any kind of backhanded comment and instead focused on calming himself down. Thankfully, Joseph moved on and about 45 minutes later, he seemed to finally run out of questions and mostly satisfied with Mat’s answers. Looking over his notes, Joseph seemed pleased. “Hm, I guess that finishes things up for today then.” Getting up from his seat, Joseph placed his papers down and proceeded to untie Mat. It was a simple task, Mat having learned a long time ago that fighting back only meant getting a needle to the neck and losing any sense of control for what felt like hours. Keeping conscious and alert as best he could was better than drooling over himself while splayed out on hard concrete.

Releasing both of his arms, Joseph hoisted him up to his feet and led him out of what essentially was a closet and back into the ever familiar basement. Robert looked up at the sound of their footsteps, glaring at Joseph as they approached where he sat. Just like always, Joseph bound Mat’s arms behind him with rope and shoved him back down on the couch. “Hold on tight” he said. “I got a little surprise for the two of you.”

“I’m ecstatic” Robert replied sarcastically. Ignoring his comment, Joseph turned on his heel and headed up the stairs at the other end of the basement. Robert waited to hear the door close heavily behind him before turning his attention to Mat. “You okay?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m fine …” Mat said with a shrug.

“You sure? You were gone a lot longer than yesterday …”

“Y-Yeah, he just seemed to have a lot more questions this time. Details and such.”

“Did you use any of the information I gave you?”

“Not all of it. I didn’t think it was a good idea to say I remembered everyone, so I only recalled what you told me about Carmen and of course Craig. Everything else, I had to tell the truth.”

“Good idea” Robert nodded. “Who knows what he’ll do if we try too hard to pretend that whatever he’s doing isn’t working.”

Mat hummed, pushing the memory of Craig to the back of his mind again. “What about you?”

“Eh, I’ll be fine” Robert said gruffly. “I was in the army once. This kind of shit doesn’t get to me as easily as the average person.”

“Mmm …” Mat chewed his lip, another thought coming to mind. “I just … at the very least, I wish I could just remember you.”

Robert immediately bristled, shooting him a soft glare. “You don’t need to know the details. Just trust what I say, alright?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you” Mat insisted. “I just ...”

“I’m an asshole, what else do you need to know?”

“Robert -”

The door creaked open and they both went silent once more. Joseph reemerged, this time with a hefty roll of duct tape hanging from his wrist. Robert and Mat exchanged nervous looks. “Surprise ~” Joseph said a little too gleefully, returning to his usual spot in front of them.

“What the hell are you up to now?” Robert spat.

Joseph laughed, clearly amused by him. “I’m throwing a birthday party for my kids today. As per usual, it’ll be a barbecue in our backyard and all our neighbors have been invited. Unfortunately for you two, I need to make sure you don’t screw any of this up. So I’ve brought some insurance.” Robert and Mat grimaced, but couldn’t do much else as Joseph quickly placed duct tape over each of their mouths, effectively silencing them. Not someone to waste some duct tape, he made sure to bind their legs as well. “There we go!” Joseph said happily, pulling back to examine his work. “How does that feel?”

Mat and Robert glared at him.

“Excellent” Joseph said. “Anyway, the guests should be arriving soon, so I won’t be able to pop down here for the rest of the afternoon. But I’m sure you’ll be able to entertain yourselves while I’m gone.” The two watched silently as Joseph made one last check of their binds, making sure neither of them could wiggle their way out. Seemingly pleased, Joseph gave them one last goodbye. “Don’t misbehave while I’m gone, alright?” The door swung heavily behind him as he left up the stairs, and Robert and Mat were once again alone.

Sighing internally, Mat settled back into his seat, feeling his bones creak from the more relaxed position. Robert had the same idea, but he made it a point to scoot a little farther away. Mat didn’t want to admit it bothered him, but that’s just how things worked out.

Despite everything he forgot and their circumstances, Mat still found a part of him relying on Robert for some kind of warmth and comfort. Whenever they slept, Mat would lean against him, letting Robert’s slow heartbeat lull him to sleep. The two talked often, usually just to see what they could remember after each “treatment” Joseph gave them. However, they often spoke of nothing in particular in an attempt to bond again. Robert had even warmed up to calling him “baby” and would often speak lovingly to him whenever Mat was experiencing a particularly harsh panic attack.

If he hadn’t known any better, Mat could have convinced himself they were madly in love with each other. Maybe deep down inside, that’s what he wanted. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get Robert to open up about their previous relationship.

Having lost all memory of Robert, he couldn’t tell if the man was lying or not. He just had to accept the fact that Robert was a self titled piece of garbage and that Mat was better off not indulging any further. It hurt, thinking Robert would hide such an integral part of their history from him. Maybe it was as awful as Robert said, but Mat considered himself a forgiving person. He couldn’t imagine Robert doing anything to him that would really put such a wedge between them. After all, Craig was the one who hurt him and Mat still remembered trying to push all that behind him. Robert shouldn’t be that much different.

_ Craig …  _ he thought solemnly.  _ What I wouldn’t give to see you again … _ _   
_ __   
Of course, even with all this affection he was experiencing with Robert, a much bigger part of his heart still felt an attachment to Craig. They had gone through a lot together, things that Mat had yet to forget and tried so hard to hold onto. There was a much deeper connection with Craig naturally in that sense and he longed for the day he could wake up from this nightmare and back home with the other man.

Time passed, neither of them acknowledging the other. Mat was beginning to think that taking a nap was much better than thinking up a way to get Robert to get close to him again when the door to the basement slowly creaked open. The pair perked up, steeling themselves for another long encounter with Joseph.

Instead, they caught the sound of incredibly soft footsteps making their way slowly down the stairs. After what seemed like ages, Chris came into view.

_ What the fuck?!  _ Robert and Mat thought simultaneously.

Keeping his eyes on the stairs, Chris eventually stepped off the last step and took a moment to brush some loose dust off of himself. Feeling both of their stares, Chris looked up at them. He stood still for a moment and the two began to wonder if Chris even knew they were down here. Then, with the same slow movement as before, Chris walked over to a side table that sat at about equal distance between one end of the basement and the other. There, he delicately placed a cellphone that he fished out from one of his pockets. He returned his gaze to the others, as blank as ever.

“My dad forgot your phone” he said flatly. “My mom thought you might want it back.” Not bothering to explain anything further, Chris quietly headed back up the stairs and left.

Trying to process what the hell just happened, Mat leaned forward to try and get a better look at the cellphone. It wasn’t particularly distinct, but it was undoubtedly Mat’s. Questions began to swim through his head as to how Chris got his phone and why he brought it back to them. Either way, it all seemed to be without Joseph’s knowledge and Mat wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to notice it was gone.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Robert nudged him with his shoulder. Mat looked up at him and Robert nodded vigorously towards the phone.

_ Go get it!  _ Mat imagined Robert saying.

Mat shook his head.  _ I don’t think it’s a good idea. _

Robert nodded just as harshly.  _ This is our chance to escape! Go get your damn phone! _

Mat wiggled his arms as best he could.  _ How do you expect me to use a cellphone like this? _

Robert rolled his eyes and shrugged angrily, nodding towards the phone again.  _ I don’t fucking know, just go get it already! _

Growling in his throat, Mat caved and decided to go with the impromptu escape plan. He wasn’t exactly sure how it was going to pan out, but he would have to figure something out quick before Joseph came back. Looking around, Mat lifted his knees; his legs had been bound together but as far as he could tell, nothing was physically tethering him to the couch.

_ Well, it’s now or never. _

Figuring he wasn’t too keen on hopping around and potentially breaking his neck, Mat carefully maneuvered his way onto the floor. Laying on his stomach, he did his best worm impression and began to wiggle his way over to the table. Robert watched him from where he sat, his eyes occasionally darting towards the stairs. It’s not like he could do anything if anyone were to come down, but it made him feel like he was helping.

The journey was slow and due to his lack of proper self care for what felt like years, Mat found himself taking multiple breaks to catch his breath. He hadn’t even made it halfway through and already he had to stop twice. The time it took to regain any strength was unnerving and the two of them knew that the longer it took to grab the phone, the less time they had to do anything useful with it.

Suddenly, the door opened.

The two froze, Mat making no move to even pretend like he wasn’t just about to wiggle across the room. Before he could process that thought though, the door slammed shut and the room went quiet again. Mat strained his ears, listening for any kind of footsteps, but none came. He managed to look back at Robert, who could only offer him an apprehensive shrug.

The two stayed still for a minute longer, not sure what to expect. When nothing else happened and it appeared they were really alone, Mat continued with his task.

Slowly but surely, he wiggled across the floor and after several more pauses, he made it to the side table. Feeling the adrenaline of being so close, he got up on his knees and shoved the table with his shoulder. The cellphone shook, inching a little closer to the edge. It would have more efficient to simply knock the table over, but Mat didn’t want to risk alerting someone upstairs of what he was doing. After a few more hits, the cellphone teetered over the edge and fell to the floor in front of Mat. Of course with his luck it landed on its face, making him curse mentally. Using his shoulder and cheek, he struggled for a moment to get it to turn over. The combination of the concrete floor and the smooth phone case helped a bit to give him some traction, but it still ate away about 5 minutes to finally get it to face upwards.

Shaking his head to get rid of his frustration, he stared down at the black screen.

_ How the hell do I use it now? _

Using the first thing that came to mind, Mat leaned down and squished his nose against the home button. The phone responded, the screen lighting up and asking him for a 4 digit password. Carefully, he pressed his nose to the screen, typing in the year he and Rosa had gotten married.

_ ‘Incorrect Pin Entered’ _

Mat blinked, letting out a noise of frustration. Figuring he typed it in wrong, he tried again, this time sure he had done it correctly.

_ ‘Incorrect Pin Entered. Three Attempts Left.’ _

Panicking, Mat made to type it in again when a thought came to him.

_ Joseph must have changed the password. _

His heart skipped a beat; of course he should have known Joseph would do something meticulous like that. He stared at the screen, his mind running at a million miles an hour. How was he supposed to crack a code in only three tries?

Figuring he had nothing left to lose, he started with Joseph’s birthday year.

_ ‘Incorrect Pin Entered. Two Attempts Left.’ _

He grunted, trying to narrow down the myriad of choices running through his mind. On his second try, he settled on the year Joseph’s twins were born.

_ ‘Incorrect Pin Entered. One Attempt Left.’ _

_ Okay, wait, let’s think about this for a minute,  _ he thought to himself, closing his eyes. There had to be something he was missing, but his panic was getting in the way of any clear thinking. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly through his nose. It seemed to calm his racing heart a bit, so he took a few more deep breaths until he could hear himself think clearly again.

_ Joseph isn’t complicated. He likes things to be easy and simple. He wouldn’t have thought too hard for this password. _

Coming to a final decision, Mat took one last try and entered the least complicated password he could think of; ‘1234’

It almost felt like an eternity waiting for the phone to respond until finally the screen shifted, welcoming him to his home screen. Mentally thanking Joseph for having zero patience for tech security, Mat now had another decision to make. With any luck, Joseph wouldn’t have completely wiped his phone and Mat could very easily contact someone. The question now though, was both who to contact and how to contact them. A phone call was simple and direct, but Mat had no way of speaking to them and asking for help. He could send an actual message with a text, but the keyboard was small and he didn’t think he had the speed or nose dexterity to send a complete message before getting caught.

However, even if he could only send a nonsensical message, it was a beacon to whoever received the message. They would know he was still out there and that he still needed help. For now, that would have to be good enough.

Settling on a call, he fumbled a bit until he managed to open the address book. His first thought was to contact Carmen, even if a part of him hesitated. The last thing he wanted to hear was her crying on the other end, begging for him to say something to her so that she knew it was really him. He didn’t want to exacerbate her grief like that, but at the very least she would know he was still alive. Scrolling down the list, he found her name and quickly selected it.

_ Ah fuck. _

The phone switched screens, indicating that his call was going through. But the receiver wasn’t Carmen; it was Craig. He growled, realizing he must have hit the wrong name on accident. Mat moved to end the call, but decided against it and figured he didn’t have time to be picky.

Then, the call connected.

“Mat?!” Craig’s voice was small and Mat had to lean in to hear it correctly. “Mat is that you?!” He grunted as loud as he could, trying to let him know he was there. He wasn’t sure what kind of noises he had to make to get Craig to even remotely understand him, but the thought was suddenly interrupted when Mat was hit with a blunt pain directly to the face.

Fall backwards, he groaned and curled up to try and lessen the pain he felt in his cheek. His vision was blurred, but as he looked up he saw Joseph, staring down at him. He could feel all the color drain from his face as he realized his mistake; he had gotten so absorbed into making the call that he didn’t hear Joseph come in again. No doubt Robert tried warning him as well, but it all had gotten lost. Now, he was caught making contact with someone from the outside and Joseph didn’t at all look pleased.

Without much pause, Joseph swiftly kicked Mat again, this time in the stomach. Bracing for impact, Mat could feel the air leave his lungs and the harsh pain against his stomach. He coughed violently, trying to keep himself from vomiting right there. Closing his eyes tightly, Mat listened to Joseph crouch down, their faces right next to each other.

“I thought I told you not to misbehave while I was gone” Joseph whispered dangerously in his ear. He reached over and grabbed the phone, immediately ending the call without much thought as to who was on the other line. Turning it off, he pocketed it and looked down at Mat one more time. He shook his head slowly, frowning. “I really wish I could forgive you for this indiscretion my dear. Honestly, I do.”

Mat trembled, not willing to open his eyes to see what Joseph was going to do. Joseph shuffled around then suddenly Mat could feel himself getting turned onto his back. A sudden weight pressed itself on his stomach and Mat’s eyes snapped open as he felt two hands wrap around his throat. He instinctively sucked in a breath before his airway was completely shut off. His wide eyes stared up at Joseph, who seemed to take pleasure in choking him. Mat could feel himself get light headed and his body wiggled ineffectively in trying to get Joseph off of him. No more words were said and it only took a minute before Mat’s vision finally blackened and he passed out from the lack of oxygen.

...

The next couple of hours were vague, with Mat slipping in and out of conscious every now and again. At one point he could feel himself get pricked by what undoubtedly was a needle and he had to endure what felt like days of altered reality.

Eventually, the visions and sensations settled and it was a quiet day when he finally, truly awoke.

His limbs twitched, eyelids still heavy with sleep. A soft groan emanated from his mouth and he could feel his throat scratch with every soft breath. At first, it was his pounding headache that started to make him more alert. But as his eyes finally opened, a guttural howl split through the air.

He jolted, looking around frantically for the source of the noise. To his dismay, it lasted only a few seconds, going silent for much longer. Furrowing his brow, he strained his ears and focused. He jumped when the scream came back and this time he picked up two separate details.

One, it was in another room far away.

Two, it was a human scream.

Feeling his heart pound with adrenaline, Mat made to move, but realized he was once against strapped down. Looking down as best as he could at himself, he realized he was in some kind of metal chair and almost every inch of him was secured with heavy leather straps. He swallowed thickly, taking note of even the strap around his head and neck that made it almost impossible to get a better view of his surroundings.

As far as he could tell, he was no longer in the basement. It was a much smaller room, the stench of blood and some array of chemicals burning his nose. It was also pitch black, his eyes only able to pick up faint details.

The scream came again, throwing Mat into an absolute panic.

_ This is a nightmare, this is just a nightmare,  _ he thought frantically, closing his eyes again. Not that he thought it looked any different, but at least this type of darkness was familiar to him.  _ Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up … _

After the third scream, everything went dead silent. Mat suddenly became too aware of his body, feeling every restraint and even the beads of sweat that formed between leather and skin. His breathing became rapid and shallow and it took everything not to just pass out then and there.

_ Wake up, wake up, fucking wake up already please God - _

The sound of a door handle broke the stillness and a sliver of light divided the room. Blinking a few times from the intensity, Mat swallowed hard, unable to do anything about his shaking form. The sound of footsteps traveled across the room and Joseph finally came into view. He stood as still as a statue, his pearly white teeth glittering even in the relative darkness. He wore what looked like a doctor’s coat, the fabric stained with something that Mat didn’t want to think about. Finally, after a long pause, Joseph spoke.

“It’s your turn.”

 


	8. Author Note

Hi everyone!

So I have some bad news. About a week ago my laptop decided not to work anymore and I have no other way to edit and upload chapters until I get a new one. I'm not sure when that will be, so for the time being, this story will have to be put on hiatus.

I'm incredibly sorry that after promising a month of multiple chapters, I can no longer live up to that expectation. It's incredibly upsetting for me and I was hoping this month I could have given it some love and really pushed out a few extra chapters for you all to enjoy. I will return to this story when I can and I will do everything in my power to make that happen as soon as possible. But for now, this little note will have to do.

It's okay if no one sticks around by the time I come back. But I assure you, I will return. I've poured a lot of time into this story and the few of you that still read it are very near and dear to my heart.

Thank you all so much and hopefully I will be back sooner rather than later!


	9. Searching in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> So I know it's been a while, but I finally have a laptop again! I was so excited to get this chapter out and I really hope it was worth the wait. I'd also like to mention that I'm definitely in the giving spirit, so keep an eye out for maybe another chapter or so really soon ;)
> 
> For those of you who have stayed with me up until now, thank you so much. Your comments and good energy are wonderful and I appreciate every second of your support. Please enjoy <3

A sudden rush of ice cold water startled Mat awake, his heavy eyes wide and his body tensing into a violent shiver as he felt the water soak into his clothes. His restrained movements reminded him he was still strapped into a chair, albeit with a lot less security than the first time he had found himself there. Joseph must have figured he had become a rag doll and wouldn’t be able to escape even if he wanted. Looking around wildly, he found his environment still as dark as ever, light pouring in enough from the open door to illuminate Joseph standing right in front of him. ****  
** **

“Good morning” Joseph said flatly, placing the now empty bucket off to the side. The metal clanged loudly against the tile floor, echoing just a bit as he waited for an answer. ****  
** **

A short exhale was all Mat could manage as his jaw and throat tightened from the cold. He looked down at his lap, trying to will himself to stop shivering, but having no luck. His entire body was in pain, aching from the past couple of days from Joseph’s anger. He hadn’t eaten or slept, all the while being injected with serums that caused various and often painful effects. He wasn’t sure they did much except cause him more trauma for Joseph’s amusement. ****  
** **

Indeed, at this point it felt like Joseph was less upset and was just looking for something to do at the expense of Mat. ****  
** **

“I have some good news for you” Joseph said suddenly, Mat still focusing on his lap. “I’ve run out of tests to perform that won’t outright kill you. I’ve thought long and … I’ve decided I’m going to funnel you and Robert through the last stage before reintroducing you to the neighborhood.” ****  
** **

Mat looked up at him, his body going still as the cool water finally heated against his skin. He blinked, a mixture of confusion, surprise and fear coursing through him. “What?” he croaked, his voice sounding strange to him. Joseph chuckled slightly. ****  
** **

“You’re finally going to get out of this hell hole, as Robert would put it so crudely.” He watched as Mat gave him a silent, hesitant look. “Oh come now, don’t give me that look” he said. “You really think I’m going to keep you down here until you die? It’s a lot of work hiding a single corpse, nevermind two. I wouldn’t do that to myself.” ****  
** **

“Where’s Robert?” Mat grunted. ****  
** **

“Around” Joseph said with slight impatience. “You don’t trust anything I say anymore, do you?” ****  
** **

“No" Mat muttered, frowning deeply. ****  
** **

“Well, either way, I’m going to have to prepare you both for reintroduction.” Joseph began counting off on his fingers. “I have to feed you, bathe you, make sure you don’t have any open wounds … essentially get you up to the best health possible to arouse the least amount of suspicion.” ****  
** **

Mat perked up just a bit, but wasn’t entirely sure how to feel. He was more than excited to finally stop feeling like he was teetering on the edge of death, but it was going to be at the expense of Joseph’s “last phase.” To be honest, Mat wasn’t sure if he really cared at this point. He wanted nothing more than to get out and if it had to be this way, then he’d corporate as best he could. ****  
** **

Not that he had a choice in the matter, but he wanted to convince himself he had some amount of control in the situation. ****  
** **

“Alright …” he finally said, nodding his head slowly. “I understand.” ****  
** **

Joseph smiled gleefully, rubbing his hands together. “Good answer ~” Excusing himself, Joseph left the cramped room and shut the door behind him, leaving Mat in darkness just as he had done many times before. Silence ringing in his ear, Mat closed his eyes and preoccupied himself with his bastardized memories. ****  
** **

_ Robert … Craig …  _ he thought slowly, trying to put a face to each name. The truth was he had forgotten nearly everything, his only retained information pertaining to himself, his family and of course Robert and Craig. Every now and again, he would dream of what he only assumed was a distant memory with other people. But no matter how hard he tried, they remained strangers to him and he could do nothing but dismiss them as just his mind trying to cope with the trauma. ****  
** **

He realized that before, he had an easier time recalling information about his life. But that was due to getting missing information from Robert, who seemed to hold onto his memories a little easier than Mat. Joseph had kept the two separate since their attempt at escape, so it was more difficult for Mat to retain anything and eventually, he had nothing to remember. ****  
** **

All that could really comfort him now was the idea that one day, all this pain would go away. ****  
** **

His thoughts eventually were interrupted when Joseph made his return. Unsurprisingly, he brought with him an array of medical items, the smell of rubbing alcohol stinging Mat’s nose harshly. Setting up his working table, Joseph snapped on a pair of rubber gloves and offered a gentle smile. “Before we do anything more drastic” he started, wandering off to another area of the room that Mat couldn’t see. “We have to give you at least some of your strength back. I don’t need you passing out once we get you out of here.” ****  
** **

Mat wondered what he meant for a brief moment before the room sudden filled with bright light, Joseph having flicked on a switch. Mat immediately closed his eyes tightly, not used to the intensity and listened as Joseph shuffled back in front of him to fiddle with his tools. The clinking of metal and the sound of ripped packages prompted him to try and open his eyes, the light still bright enough to keep him at a gentle squint. He realized that Joseph had brought another IV to attach to him; seemingly his favorite way to pump long term drugs into Mat without hassle. ****  
** **

He grimaced, which Joseph noticed. “This is just going to be saline” he said with a smile as he started looking for a good vein on Mat’s arm. “We have to get you hydrated again as a top priority.” ****  
** **

Mat didn’t believe him, but he decided to change the subject just in case he wouldn’t be conscious after the drip was all set up. “Will I get to see Robert?” ****  
** **

Joseph cocked an eyebrow, pausing briefly to give Mat a look. “You’re obsessed with him, aren’t you?” he scoffed. ****  
** **

Mat shied away a little. “I just ... want the company …” ****  
** **

Joseph hummed a response, finishing up with the drip. Mat shivered once more, feeling the cool liquid spread through his body. He half expected it to be some kind of drug like usual, but this time it seemed that Joseph was telling the truth. His body relaxed after a few moments, the tension in his muscles disappearing and he could feel the ache of his wounds slowly ebb away. He wasn’t totally cured of his ailments, but at least now he felt he could pay attention a little better. ****  
** **

Pulling off his gloves to replace them with another set, Joseph assessed his work. “Perfect, as per usual” he decided with a small chuckle. Moving on, he grabbed a few packets of gauze and a container of ointment. Getting much too close to Mat’s liking, he started to poke at a few cuts and bruises on his face, patching them up at a very casual pace. Mat flinched every time he applied the stinging ointment, but otherwise stayed still as more and more of his face and neck were covered in bandages. Mat suddenly became aware of that pulsing feeling from a cleaned out and cared for injury, the intensity slowly fading as Joseph continued to move to other spots. ****  
** **

_ I guess I didn’t realize how much pain I was really in ... _ ****  
** **

“Hmm … I suppose that will do for now” Joseph said, pulling back and checking his watch. “The saline solution should really kick in after about 4 hours. After that, I’ll move you to a nicer room for the rest of your recovery.” He looked back at Mat, the look in his eyes deceptively kind and manipulative. “Does that sound good?” ****  
** **

Mat swallowed thickly. “Y-Yeah.” ****  
** **

Joseph smiled, reaching over to touch Mat’s hand gently. “Good boy.” ****  
** **

... ****  
** **

It was a particularly hot Friday evening when Craig entered Maple Bay Middle School. He didn’t normally come inside the building, instead waiting outside in the parking lot to pick up his girls after their extracurricular activities. This time however, Hugo had asked him to come by to talk about Carmen. ****  
** **

Following the barbecue at Joseph’s house about a week ago, Carmen decided she was ready to come back to school. She was nervous of course, but decided it was the best thing for herself if she was going to try and live some semblance of a normal life without her father. Craig didn’t want her to think she’d have to get used to living alone, but decided not to argue with her. Instead, he stayed quiet and took the tasks of making sure she had a healthy breakfast, dressed nicely and drove her to and from school every weekday. So far, everything seemed to work out just fine and it wasn’t long before he had fully taken the role of a father figure for her. ****  
** **

Walking down a large hallway, Craig easily found Hugo’s classroom and knocked on the door. A moment of silence followed before Craig could hear some shuffling inside. The door handle jiggled, opening up to reveal Hugo on the other side. “Ah, Craig” he greeted cheerfully. “Glad you could make it.” Craig smiled back at him, noting Hugo’s slightly disheveled appearance. Stepping to the side, Hugo ushered Craig in and the two made their way over to Hugo’s desk, sitting across from each other. ****  
** **

Pushing some papers aside, Hugo started the conversation. “How have you been?” He laced his fingers together in front of him, smiling. ****  
** **

“Pretty alright” Craig said shortly. ****  
** **

Hugo tilted his head a little, adjusting his glasses. “Have you been sleeping well? Eating a healthy diet? Getting some sun?” ****  
** **

Craig nodded, albeit a little hesitantly. “I’ve been … doing my best. I’m not doing anything unhealthy if that’s what you’re getting at. But I haven’t exactly kept up with my usual routine.” ****  
** **

Hugo’s moustache twitched in thought. “I see … well, I suppose as long as you’re maintaining some kind of self care, I can’t complain much.” ****  
** **

“It’s tough” Craig defended. “You know that …” ****  
** **

“Yes … Yes, I know” Hugo nodded, sharing a somber look with Craig. “Well, I suppose on the bright side, Carmen seems to have readjusted quite well.” ****  
** **

“Oh?” Craig said, perking up at the good news. “That’s great!” ****  
** **

Hugo nodded. “I was actually surprised when she walked into class on her first day back with such a look of determination. I don’t even think the other students expected it either, as they’ve not yet been able to fully approach her like they had before.” ****  
** **

“She’s not being ignored is she?” Craig asked, his expression dropping. Hugo shook his head quickly, waving off the question. ****  
** **

“No of course not. She’s blended in quite well. It’s just … you can see the dilemma in the other students, especially those closest to her. It’s no secret what happened to her father and I can’t imagine there’s a single kid that doesn’t know everything.” ****  
** **

“Yeah …?” Craig raised an eyebrow, unsure of where Hugo was going with this thought. ****  
** **

“It’s difficult to talk to someone who’s lost parents the way she did” Hugo lowered his voice to a gruff whisper, leaning forward in his chair a little. “Her mother died suddenly from some kind of illness and her father just vanished. It’s hard to pretend that isn’t at the front of your mind when talking to her and I know she’s aware of this. I know the other students don’t mean any harm by it, but they seem afraid to interact too deeply with her. They skirt around topics, struggling to find anything to talk about with her that sounds natural. The only one that seems to have any luck is Daisy, but I’m not sure how long that can last.” ****  
** **

Craig looked down at his lap, a deep frown creasing his face. It was hard not taking the news personally; he essentially raised Carmen for almost two months and to know she was facing roadblocks that neither of them could really change affected him just as deeply as if it was happening to his own biological daughters. “What can I do?” He asked. “How can I help her?” ****  
** **

Hugo sighed heavily, sitting back and causing his chair to creak slightly. “Not much, I’m afraid. The politics of adolescent society is beyond my jurisdiction. I suppose you could just keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn’t become a recluse again. I know she’s working hard at returning to her old self, but she can’t do it alone. She needs a parental figure with her.” ****  
** **

“I’m here with her” Craig sat up straight, looking Hugo directly in the eye. “She has me in her corner.” ****  
** **

Hugo hummed, nodding gently. A moment of silence passed between them. “Craig … have you thought about what you’ll do once this is all over?” ****  
** **

“What do you mean?” ****  
** **

“Well … let’s say this all goes south and this is all just some pipe dream. Carmen can’t be alone forever, not as a child. I know you’re doing your best by watching over her right now, but that can only last so long. She has to be able to find a stable home somewhere.” ****  
** **

“I’ll adopt her” Craig cut in quickly. “She can be part of my family.” ****  
** **

“Craig, I don’t think it’s that simple” Hugo said with a slightly nervous chuckle. “You’re a single father and you already have three other children to look after, one of which is still very much an infant. Not to mention your ex may not appreciate having another mouth to feed, considering your current co parenting arrangement.” ****  
** **

“Well I’m not just going to stand by and let her be taken in by strangers if that’s what you think will happen.” ****  
** **

“No, it’s just -” ****  
** **

“No” Craig’s tone was sharp, effectively making Hugo blink in surprise at the firmness. It didn’t last long however, as Craig quickly sighed, dropping his tense shoulders. “Hugo …” he started again, much softer this time. “This isn’t some off the wall decision I’m making. I’ve thought about this for a long time, even longer than when this all started. Mat … really means a lot to me and I was more than ready to rebuild our relationship into something that could have been permanent. Okay, so maybe we aren’t soulmates or whatever. Maybe in the end we would have broken up again over some kind of argument and he would have just gone back to Robert.” ****  
** **

“Robert?” Hugo asked. “They had a thing?” ****  
** **

“Present tense” Craig corrected with a shrug. “It’s...something I noticed early on when Mat and I really started to hang out more often. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even I can tell when someone is trying to pretend they’re not sleeping with someone else.” ****  
** **

“I see …” Hugo looked down in thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure if he was more surprised that Mat found any comfort in Robert or that Craig seemed to be okay with the affair. “That didn’t bother you?” ****  
** **

Craig leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Robert isn’t a threat to me. Whatever they had going on, it’s probably only temporary.” Hugo nodded silently. Craig continued. “Anyway … I figured if anything, I was going to be part of Mat’s life for a while. I made that promise to myself that I was going to do everything I could to take care of him and his family. They need me, Hugo.That’s why I can’t abandon Carmen like that. Maybe Mat would understand if I did, but I could never forgive myself. I owe him at least that much, after what I did to him.” ****  
** **

The two sat silently for a moment, taking in Craig’s words. Hugo opened his mouth, but quickly closed it and figured there was no reason to argue with Craig anymore. Instead, he nodded in understanding and decided this was the best time to change the subject. “Ah, you said there was also something else important you wanted to discuss with me?” ****  
** **

Craig sat up, excited about the question. “Yeah, that!” He took a moment and dug into his pocket, eventually producing a small plastic bag. He placed it on the desk, allowing Hugo to see what was inside. “I found these a while ago” Craig started, watching Hugo adjust his glasses as he leaned in to examine it better. ****  
** **

“I assume these are Mat’s keys?” Hugo asked quietly. Craig nodded, a look of slight hesitancy crossing his face. “I thought it was kinda weird that I found them just outside his front door but … I’m not sure if there is anything important that you can take from that.” ****  
** **

“Well …” Hugo started slowly. “You’re partially right. Finding his keys don’t really tell us much, given what happened at Joseph’s barbecue. We know he was kidnapped and is still alive based on that phone call. However, the keys tells us it wasn’t a break in. He must have been taken just as he was entering his home.” ****  
** **

“Really?” ****  
** **

“There’s no other reason why he’d have his keys out” Hugo said with a shrug. “These kinds of things don’t just fall out of your pocket.” ****  
** **

Craig thought for a moment. “...So someone must have been stalking him” he said. “They must have caught him off guard.” ****  
** **

Hugo nodded. “That’s entirely possible, yes. Perhaps they were waiting until he was distracted before jumping him.” Craig hummed a response, trying not to linger on the image of Mat struggling against his attacker. His thought was interrupted by another question from Hugo. “Did you ever notice anyone spending too much time around him?” ****  
** **

Craig shrugged, his mind immediately snapping to an answer. “The only one that really hung around Mat more than I liked was Robert.” ****  
** **

Hugo hesitated before asking his next question. “You don’t think he’d …?” ****  
** **

Craig blinked, his face screwing up in disbelief. “No of course he wouldn’t. Even if he tried, I feel like Mat would be able to fight him off.” ****  
** **

“The timing seems to line up a little too perfectly though, don’t you think?” ****  
** **

“What do you mean …?” ****  
** **

“Well …” Hugo said thoughtfully. “The thing is, I don’t normally see Robert on a daily basis. But lately he’s been a little too quiet on my radar. If I had to give an exact time when it started, I would say it was within the same week that Mat had disappeared.” ****  
** **

Craig narrowed his eyes, his mind shifting in a direction he hadn’t thought of before. Hugo was implying that Robert may have had something to do with Mat’s disappearance and given that neither of them had seen him around for a while, Craig was beginning to think he was onto something. “Call him” he said. ****  
** **

“R-Right …” Hugo pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed Robert’s number. Putting it on speaker, the two listened as the phone call connected, then went to voicemail. ****  
** **

Craig didn’t like that at all. ****  
** **

“We need to investigate” Craig said, quickly standing up. Hugo jumped at his sudden movement, but remained seated. ****  
** **

“Ah, Craig, do you really think that’s wise?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. “Maybe he just has his phone off for personal reasons. Getting sent to voicemail doesn’t mean anything is wrong.” ****  
** **

Craig sighed, relaxing his shoulders a bit. “You may not think it’s anything serious, but if this last month has taught me anything, it’s never trust silence.” He gestured towards Hugo. “You even said it yourself; you haven’t heard anything from Robert in a while and you thought it was weird enough to bring up. Doesn’t that count for anything?” ****  
** **

Hugo stared up at him for a long moment before sighing heavily. He grunted as he got to his feet, his moustache twitching slightly. “Alright, alright, you win. Let’s get going.” ****  
** **

… ****  
** **

About 15 minutes later, Hugo parked his car in Robert’s driveway. Cutting the engine, he sat back in his seat for a moment, surveying Craig next to him. “So what’s the plan?” he asked. ****  
** **

Craig kept his gaze on the dashboard in front of him, a contemplative frown crossing his face. “Well” he started slowly. “We gotta check if he’s home. If he is, then we make up some story of wanting to have dinner with him or something.” ****  
** **

“If he’s not …?” ****  
** **

“Then we gotta figure out where he went. Which may involve a little bit of … forced entry.” ****  
** **

Hugo looked down in thought. He wasn’t really used to being in this position and was more often an unwilling witness to Ernest’s debauchery. He had to silence that thought in his head that told him this was all a bad, hypocritical idea. “Do you know how to break into someone’s house without much damage?” ****  
** **

“The first part, yes” Craig answered. “The second part, not so much.” ****  
** **

“Hmm … well, I’m sure we can figure something out” Hugo chuckled nervously. “If things go to hell though, I’m sure I can talk our way out of any charges.” ****  
** **

“Bro, really?” ****  
** **

Hugo shrugged. “When you have a kid like Ernest, you get a lot of practice buttering up the cops so they don’t haul his ass off to juvenile hall.” ****  
** **

“Ah …” With nothing else to say, the two took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Hearts pounding from the tension, the two looked around, confirming that they were alone. The sun had already set and the neighborhood was quiet like it always was at this time. Approaching Robert’s house, Craig tried to find anything that seemed out of place. However, he realized he never really spent time here to remember what it looked like normally. “See anything off?” He asked Hugo. ****  
** **

“Not particularly, no” Hugo muttered, his eyes scanning the exterior of the somewhat well kept house. “You?” ****  
** **

“Uh … no.” The two walked up the driveway, passing by Robert’s parked truck. Craig pointed it out. “Theoretically, he should be home if this is here.” ****  
** **

“Well, there’s nothing else to do but try” Hugo said, taking in a quick breath for a bit of courage. Stepping up to the front door, he reached out and knocked. Almost immediately, they were greeted with the unhinged barking of Betsy. They could hear her bound through the house, her paws suddenly scratching the front door feverishly. They stood there, listening to Betsy half barking, half crying on the other side of the door, but didn’t catch any other activity going on inside. A few long minutes passed before Hugo knocked again. Going unanswered once more, Craig quickly turned to Hugo. ****  
** **

“We gotta get inside” he said flatly. Before Hugo could say anything, Craig took a few steps away from the door, staring it down. He bounced on his toes, hyping himself up when Hugo suddenly realized what he was going to do. ****  
** **

“W-Wait, Craig” he said. “You can’t just kick down the -” ****  
** **

“What the fuck are you doing?” ****  
** **

Craig and Hugo jumped from the harsh tone, turning around quickly. Their gazes quickly fell on the Bloodmarches, who seemed to be in the middle of an evening walk. Damien himself was scowling down at his son. “Lucien, what did I say about using such barbaric language?” he scolded. ****  
** **

“Dad, they’re literally breaking and entering” Lucien gestured at Hugo and Craig. “I think there are more important things to worry about right now.” ****  
** **

Damien rubbed his temple gently, sighing. “I suppose you’re right …” He redirected his attention to Hugo and Craig. “So … what  _ are _ you two doing?” ****  
** **

“Nothing illegal” Craig said with a fake laugh. ****  
** **

Hugo crossed his arms, looking down at his feet almost sheepishly. “Well … at least not illegal yet …” ****  
** **

Damien slowly raised an eyebrow, thinking quietly to himself for a moment. “I … I see …” The four of them stood awkwardly for a long moment before Hugo finally decided to break the flimsy charade. ****  
** **

“Alright look” He started again, watching Lucien pull out his phone to take a picture that would undoubtedly end up being sent to Ernest. “Craig and I were talking and we both realized that we haven’t seen Robert since Mat’s disappearance. So … we decided to check up on him.” ****  
** **

“And … that involved breaking into his home?” ****  
** **

“No one answered, except Betsy” Craig defended. “And like Hugo said, we haven’t seen Robert for almost two months.” ****  
** **

Damien blinked, rubbing his chin in thought. “You know … now that you bring it up, I don’t think I’ve crossed paths with Robert for a long while either. Normally, I would see him wandering around every now and again during my midnight walks.” He turned to Lucien. “Have you seen him around?” ****  
** **

Lucien shrugged and shook his head. “Nope.” ****  
** **

“You have to admit that’s weird” Craig pointed out. ****  
** **

“It certainly is …” Damien agreed. “Though, I can’t say it would warrant breaking the law.” ****  
** **

“It’s not breaking the law if you don’t get caught” Hugo added quickly. “And I don’t think you’re the kind to turn in your friends to the cops.” ****  
** **

“You’re seriously justifying this? What the hell did you do to Ernest’s real dad?” Lucien wondered out loud. ****  
** **

“I may not turn you into the authorities” Damien continued, not bothering to comment on Lucien’s language yet again. “But I don’t think I could leave you both to go through with this illegal activity.” ****  
** **

“So join us” Craig said with a smile. ****  
** **

“Excuse me?” Damien blinked in surprise. “Craig, I could never.” ****  
** **

“Damien, this is serious business” Craig pressed, his tone suddenly shifting into one a little more deep and calculating. “We potentially have two missing neighbors with no explanation as to where they are or why they’re gone. I know you and I don’t spend that much time together, but I know that if you were taken somewhere and held hostage, you’d want us to do anything and everything we could to bring you back alive. Even if it meant breaking a few laws.” ****  
** **

Damien opened his mouth to protest when Hugo cut in, doing what he could to keep riding on Craig’s somber tone. “Mat and Robert are our friends and it would be a disservice to know that they’re out there and we’re doing nothing about it. Imagine what Carmen is feeling. She would be devastated to know that we aren’t doing everything we could to find her only surviving parent.” ****  
** **

Craig frowned, glancing at Hugo. His comment reminded him that he still hadn’t mentioned the phone call to Carmen. It had slipped his mind the past week as he spent his time caring for her, hoping he would just forget completely so he wouldn’t accidentally let it slip. Part of him felt wrong doing it, but he just assumed it was better that he kept as much stress off of her as possible. Now he thought otherwise and he made a mental note to rethink everything later on that night. ****  
** **

Damien sighed heavily, his eyes searching the ground for nothing in particular. After a minute of contemplation, he spoke up. “I suppose you’re right.” ****  
** **

“R-Really?” Hugo said, surprised that their coercion worked. Damien nodded. ****  
** **

“The situation right now is unfortunate and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated with how it’s being handled. What you say is true and I’m willing to help in any way I can to find our friends.” He paused. “Though … I don’t recommend breaking down the door. It’s unnecessary damage.” ****  
** **

Craig rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “W-Well, I don’t really know how to open it otherwise without a key.” ****  
** **

“I was going to suggest going through a window” Hugo said. “But knowing Robert, they might all be locked as well.” ****  
** **

“Well I certainly don’t have any experience with these kinds of things …” Damien muttered. “But there might be someone who does.” ****  
** **

All three turned to look at Lucien. ****  
** **

Lucien nearly choked, taking a step back in surprise. “S-Stop giving me that look!” He defended angrily. “I don’t know how to get in either!” ****  
** **

“That’s a bold faced lie and you know it” Hugo scoffed. ****  
** **

“If you’re worried about any consequences, don’t. Whatever happens in all this will be completely on Hugo, Craig and myself.” Damien said calmly, reaching over to smooth down Lucien’s hair gently. “I’ll make sure you aren’t reprimanded.” ****  
** **

The three of them stared at Lucien expectantly and it didn’t take long for him to concede. “Fine, whatever” he grumbled, pulling away from his dad. Fishing something out of his pocket, he approached the door and began fiddling with the handle. He made sure to shield what he was doing away from the others, much to the dismay of Craig and Hugo. ****  
** **

After a tense minute, they watched as Lucien finally turned the door handle and open the door with a small shove. Betsy immediately bolted outside, barking loudly as she ran circles around Damien’s feet. “Hello there girl ~” he cooed, crouching down to pick her up. She feverishly licked his face, her tail wagging at lightning speed. ****  
** **

“Do you think she’s been alone?” Hugo asked. Damien nodded before answering. ****  
** **

“Perhaps … I’ve never seen her so excited to see someone.” ****  
** **

Checking to make sure no one was watching them, they all carefully entered the house. At first it was dark, Craig reaching over to flip on the living room light. The room was messy, as they had expected and the slight smell of dog urine hung in the air. “She must not have been taken out recently” Damien commented, Betsy still held securely in his arms. ****  
** **

“Which would be incredibly unlikely if Robert has been here” Hugo added, shutting the front door quietly and locking it again. He didn’t think they would be bothered, but it was better to look as if there weren’t four people rummaging through a house uninvited. ****  
** **

“That gives us probable cause to look around” Craig said, trying to mimic the seriousness of a cop. In agreement of the plan, the four of them wandered throughout the house, searching separate rooms. Lucien followed Craig into Robert’s bedroom, while Hugo took the kitchen and Damien searched the living room. ****  
** **

“What are we even looking for?” Lucien asked, standing idly by the door as he watched Craig rummage through Robert’s bedside table. He offered a shrug. ****  
** **

“I’m not really sure” he said over his shoulder, hearing Lucien scoff slightly. “But all signs are pointing to the fact that Robert hasn’t been here in a while. If we’re lucky, there might be a clue around here that can tell us why.” ****  
** **

“And that’s gonna help find Carmen’s dad?” ****  
** **

“Maybe.” ****  
** **

“What do you mean maybe? You don’t know for sure?” ****  
** **

“There’s a lot we don’t know” Craig sighed, stopping in the middle of his task to bring all of his attention onto Lucien. “Joseph’s been controlling all of this until now, not giving any of us any information. Hugo and I are following hunches and gut feelings at this point because that’s all we have and that’s really the best we can do until we get some solid evidence.” ****  
** **

Lucien frowned, rolling his eyes a bit. “Sounds to me like you should be searching Joseph’s house instead.” ****  
** **

Craig chuckled awkwardly. “Maybe that’ll be next on the agenda.” ****  
** **

After the conversation died down, Craig went back to searching and had even gotten some help from Lucien. To their dismay however, they found nothing after about 15 minutes. Craig sighed heavily in annoyance; he thought for sure there would be something hidden in the mess that was Robert’s room, but everything seemed to belong there. ****  
** **

“What now?” Lucien asked, lazily inspecting a discarded shirt. ****  
** **

“I don’t know” Craig admitted. “It feels like something should be here, but maybe I just don’t see it …” He stood and thought quietly to himself. Craig was convinced there had to be some kind of clue in Robert’s house and so far he hadn’t found it in his bedroom. Perhaps one of the others had stumbled upon something in one of the other rooms. “Come on” he said, heading towards the door. “Maybe your dad or Hugo had better luck.” ****  
** **

Ushering Lucien out of the bedroom, the two stepped back into the living room. There, they found Hugo and Damien chatting quietly amongst themselves on the couch. They stood up as soon as they saw Craig come in. “Did you find anything?” Damien asked anxiously. ****  
** **

Craig shook his head. “No. What about you two?” ****  
** **

“No dice” Hugo said, his moustache twitching slightly. “We looked in every nook and cranny and there doesn’t seem to be any foul play.” ****  
** **

“Damn it” Craig muttered, clenching his fists loosely. ****  
** **

“Let’s not get our hopes down now” Damien said, trying to reassure Craig. “Perhaps it’s just that we don’t know exactly what to look for that’s throwing us off.” ****  
** **

“I agree; we may have just overlooked something important because we’re not sure” Hugo said, crossing his arms. “You have to admit, this was incredibly impromptu.” ****  
** **

Craig frowned, realizing he was right. “Yeah … yeah I suppose” he muttered. He had hoped this would have turned out a little easier, but in hindsight, that may have been asking for the moon. “What do you think we should do now?” ****  
** **

“Let’s call it a night” Hugo looked up thoughtfully. “Sleep tonight’s excitement off and then maybe tomorrow, all three of us can regroup and -” ****  
** **

“Three?” Lucien interrupted, puffing out his chest. “What about me? I’m part of this too, damn it.” ****  
** **

“S-Sorry” Hugo faltered. “I just assumed you thought this was a waste of time.” ****  
** **

“Well it’s not.” Lucien scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s bullshit that Carmen has to walk around without her parents, even if they’re annoying as hell. It’s about time someone stood up against Mr. Christiansen.” ****  
** **

“My son, Joseph isn’t the enemy here” Damien said, doing his best to ignore Lucien’s colorful vocabulary. “But … we do appreciate the enthusiasm.” ****  
** **

Lucien snorted. “Are you kidding me? If anyone in this neighborhood was capable of kidnapping, it’s him.” ****  
** **

“Why?” Craig asked. Carmen held similar sentiments, but Craig never understood why a clean cut pastor was the center of it all. He assumed it was just their way of going against “traditional” figureheads, but now it felt like there was something more that the kids were able to see. ****  
** **

Lucien grunted. “When was the last time you ever watched a movie and the perfect next door neighbor wasn’t the deranged killer?” ****  
** **

Damien sighed audibly, rubbing his temple slightly. “Films aren’t typically used as a means to justify things that you only assume are -” ****  
** **

A sudden jiggle from the front door knob cut Damien off and all four of them instantly bolted, trying to find anywhere to hide. Craig dove behind the couch, Hugo sprinted into the kitchen and Damien and Lucien ran into the bathroom, closing the door quickly. Hearts pounding, all of them went deathly silent as they listened to the knob turn and the door creak open. Betsy, who had decided to take a nap halfway through their rummaging, bolted awake and was barking madly at all the commotion. ****  
** **

“Hey there ~” Craig could hear the other person say as they invited themselves inside. He listened as they closed the front door and seemingly spend a moment petting Betsy. He let out a small breath; whoever it was sounded familiar, but it definitely wasn’t Robert. ****  
** **

_ This doesn’t make sense,  _ he thought to himself.  _ Why else would anyone come here besides Robert and why do they have his keys? Hugo locked the door before we did anything. _ ****  
** **

Unable to help himself, Craig let his curiosity take over and he stood up fully, watching as Mary jumped from his sudden appearance. The two locked eyes with each other and they simultaneously asked the same question. ****  
** **

“What the hell are you doing here?” **  
**


	10. Until Proven Otherwise/I Love You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I'm sorry about the long wait. That's all I really have to say ^^ Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and let me know what you think! I always love hearing feedback ~

Mary stood as still as a statue as she watched Damien, Lucien and Hugo join them in the living room. Craig kept his gaze on her, unsure of what to make of the sudden turn of events. The silence wasn’t too long as Mary spoke up first. “What the hell is going on?” she asked, puffing out her chest to try and appear a little more intimidating.

“We could ask you the same question” Damien asked, casually fixing his cloak. “You’re not one to visit Robert at his home.”

“That’s not the point!” Mary barked. “I only expected Betsy to be here, not half of the fucking neighborhood! You all are literally breaking and entering!”

“You’re not supposed to be here either!” Lucien snapped back at her. “The only person who should be here isn’t here.”

“Okay wait” Hugo said, stepping towards the center of the living room. “Mary, you  _ only  _ expected Betsy? Do you know where Robert is then?”

Mary stepped back, ignoring Betsy who was pawing at her and whining to be picked up. “H-He uh …” she stammered for a second, earning suspicious looks. “He’s … out.”

“Out where?” Craig asked.

“H-How should I know?” She said briskly, crossing her arms tightly. “Maybe he’s out doing one of his hiking trips and won’t be back for a while.” She looked away quickly. “H-he asked me to watch Betsy for him until he came back.”

Craig, Damien and Hugo exchanged looks, unsure of what to do with the information. Lucien snorted loudly. “That’s bullshit.”

“Excuse me?” Mary snapped, looking ready to punch Lucien’s lights out. Lucien rolled his eyes, growling dramatically.

“Anyone with half a brain can tell you’re lying” he answered, pointing at her. “You’re hiding something.”

“Listen here you little shit -”

“Mary, what’s really going on?” Craig asked, his tone much more firm than he or anyone else expected. The two looked at each other, the room going dead quiet as the others waited for her to answer.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but something in her gaze told him she knew exactly what he wanted to know. It was getting her to admit it that would be the hard part. After a long minute, Mary finally sighed, looking down at the ground. “I can’t say” she said matter of factly.

“M-Mary” Hugo stuttered, his expression just as surprised as Lucien and Damien’s. “What are you saying? You know what happened with Mat and Robert?”

“I can’t say” she repeated, keeping her head down and gaze planted firmly on the ground.

“Mary please” Damien said softly. “These are our friends we’re talking about … if you know something that could lead us to them …”

“It’s not that easy” she sneered, crossing her arms tightly.

“You’re practically admitting you have a part in all this” Lucien pointed out dully.

“You don’t have proof that I’m involved in anything!”

“Are you even listening to yourself right now, you sound fuckin’ guilty as hell!”

“No” Craig suddenly blurted out, making Mary jump in surprise. Everyone looked over at him and Craig could feel the tension of the room creep up against his skin. His fists clenched slightly and his mouth went dry. Things were beginning to click in his mind. “This … this is a dead end. We’re not going to get anything from Mary.”

“What are you talking about?” Hugo seemed frustrated at Craig’s resistance, his mustache twitching irritably. “She clearly knows something.”

“We can’t make her say anything” Craig insisted. “What do you want to do, strap her down and hold her until she spills the beans?” He let out a low, tight breath as no one answered. Frown still planted on his face, he looked towards the front door. “We’ll have better luck searching somewhere else.”

“I-I suppose ..” Damien agreed, albeit hesitantly.

“We’re done here” Craig stated firmly. Taking the hint, the other three nodded in agreement. With nothing else left to say, Craig led the way out of the house, passing by Mary without looking at her. Whatever she was planning on doing, her privacy would be intact. With the sudden departure, it seemed to be universally understood that their meeting, and by extension the break in, never happened.

His footsteps sounded loud against the concrete pathway as Craig followed Hugo back to his car. He wasn’t sure how Mary could have missed seeing it in the driveway, but he supposed strangers things have happened. Damien and Lucien had resumed their walk, Damien taking a moment to say goodbye to the other two and wishing them a safe night.

The drive back to Hugo’s home was, of course, short. The sun had completely set at this point and everything outside the car window was in a blanket of darkness. Lost in his thoughts, Craig hadn’t even noticed the both of them still sitting for almost 15 minutes after they had made it back to Hugo’s home.

“Mary knows exactly what happened” Hugo said quietly, the buzz of silence hanging around them. Craig kept his eyes on the dashboard, concentration all over his face. “But … I can’t decide if it’s because she’s in cahoots with someone else, or if she’s the one behind it all …”

“She didn’t do it” Craig said just as softly.

“What makes you think that?”

Craig sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but … the way she looked at me … the way she’s been acting ...” His mind rushed back to that night at the bar when the two had run into each other. It was only a brief meeting, but she had said something to him that, in this moment, suddenly aligned all the pieces together. He turned, looking over at Hugo with a grim expression. “I think … the real person we should be investigating … is Joseph.”

Hugo stared at him hard, then after a brief moment he nodded slowly, his hands fidgeting on the steering wheel before dropping down onto his lap. “Seems we were right to be suspicious of him from the beginning ...”

“What do we do?”

“I-I don’t know … this is all only assumptions. We don’t have anything concrete that could point us to him and the only link we do have is Mary. I can’t imagine she’ll rat him out anytime soon.”

Craig cursed under his breath; Hugo was right. Mary wasn’t one to fold easily under pressure and it was likely that Joseph was using other means to keep her silent. “We have to figure out what he’s up to and what he did to them.”

“Let’s regroup tomorrow” Hugo suggested. “If we do anymore snooping tonight, we might get too ahead of ourselves and end up getting caught. We need to come up with a plan.”

Craig frowned, but accepted the idea. “Yeah … I guess you’re right. Should we group up with Damien again?”

“Oh fuck” Hugo suddenly gasped, sitting up straight in his seat. “Lucien!”

“W-What? What about him?” Craig asked, surprised. Hugo turned to him, adjusting his glasses nervously.

“Lucien was with us tonight.”

“Yeah …?”

“He’s no doubt going to tell Ernest what happened. Knowing my own son, he’s going to end up running his mouth when he really shouldn’t …”

“You think it’ll get back to Joseph that we snooped?” Craig asked wearily.

“It’s entirely possible …” Hugo muttered, sighing deeply. “I can’t really surmise what the consequences would be if he spilled the beans for us …”

Craig leaned back in his seat, thinking to himself for a moment. “... well, there isn’t really anything we can do about it now.”

“Mmm …”

“And anyway, this could work in our favor. If Joseph gets wind of what we did and he starts to panic, we’ll notice. Any change in his behavior will for sure help us decide if he’s the one we’re looking for.”

“You … really are hoping it’s Joseph, aren’t you?”

“Hm?” Craig raised an eyebrow, looking at Hugo. “Well yeah. Don’t you feel the same?” Hugo smiled weakly.

“I would certainly like to believe it could be him. It would make this so much easier. But, again, we have no proof he’s involved. We’re just guessing from disconnected events.”

Craig opened his mouth to protest, when his phone began to buzz. “Ah … it’s Carmen …” he said almost disappointedly as he read her name on the screen. Letting it ring once more, he answered.

“Hi baby girl.”

“A-Ah, Mr. Craig … sorry, I was just worried …”

“No it’s okay, you don’t have to apologize. I was just uh … chatting with Hugo. But don’t worry, I’ll be home soon. Ten minutes tops.”

“O-Okay. Did you still want to watch a movie with me?”

“Of course!” Craig blinked, surprised that she would ask such a question. Though to be fair, he had almost forgotten that he had made that promise earlier that morning. “Did you pick out what you want to watch?”

“Mhmm!” Carmen said a little more enthusiastically. “But I want to keep it a secret until you come home.”

Craig chuckled. “Alright baby girl. I’ll be back soon, I promise.” The two said their goodbyes and Craig finally hung up, a small frown on his face. Hugo, who had been silently listening, noticed his immediate change in demeanor. Craig spoke again. “Even if we’re wrong … I can’t just let myself drop this feeling. I owe it to Carmen to do everything I can to help her find some kind of resolve.”

Hugo nodded silently as Craig continued. “I thought I was doing what was best and now it feels like I was only doing what I was told … I have to believe it was Joseph. For my sanity and for hers … I have to believe wholeheartedly that he’s the man behind everything. Until proven otherwise.”

The two spoke for only a minute longer before finally saying their goodbyes. Exiting the car, they shared one last hug before Craig started his walk back home. He knew he was getting ahead of himself, but his mind was becoming preoccupied with memories he had of Joseph. Picking them apart, he tried to find some kind of clue that would lead him to the man and his assumed wrongdoings.

_ He’s not perfect … there has to be something that can tell me what he’s done … _

As his mind wandered back to the birthday party, a sudden related memory came back to him. “Oh” he said to himself out loud. “That’s right … the phone call …” It had truly left him, if only for a moment and it seemed like tonight it was to be brought up once more. He had taken the time to consider the choices he had to deal with the information, both nerve inducing. However, deep down inside, he knew what the right decision was, and that he had to face it sooner rather than later.

Before long, Craig found himself stepping through the front door of his house and was immediately greeted with a hug from Carmen. “You’re home!” she exclaimed, a sense of relief in her tone as usual. Craig chuckled, hugging her back gently.

“I told you I’d be back in ten minutes” he said with a smile. She grinned back sheepishly at him as she let go.

“I-I was just making sure.” Brushing at her pajamas nervously, she took Craig’s hand and pulled him towards the living room couches. “C’mon! We should have started the movie like an hour ago!”

Craig smiled weakly, letting her tug him along until the two were seated comfortably. Before she could reach for the remote control however, Craig gently placed his hand over hers and got her attention. “Ah … actually …” he began, her brown eyes looking curiously into his own. “... there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Oh” she said quietly, pulling back from him. Craig could see her start to tremble slightly, the corners of her mouth twitching just before she visibly steeled herself. “O-Okay. What is it?”

Craig fidgeted for a moment, trying to find the right words to start. He knew it wouldn’t make a difference either way, but it was worth the extra effort.

“Do you remember that birthday party for Joseph’s kids? Something … happened while we were there and I think it’s time you knew about it …”

...

Time passed and Mat could feel himself become a little stronger everyday. He had been moved to what looked like a smaller version of a jail cell, eventually being joined by Robert who shared his enthusiasm when they realized they would have someone to talk to again. Their days suddenly consisted of three full meals, proper hygiene and at night they enjoyed their soft beds to sleep soundly. With the boost in self care, their wounds rapidly healed and, despite the circumstances, they could feel their moods boost.

Of course, they knew it wouldn’t be this simple and they had realized something was off.

“Do you feel that?” Mat asked Robert one day, the two of them eating a healthy serving of soup as a late breakfast. Robert stared at his bowl intensely, swishing the soup in his mouth around for a moment before swallowing. He paused, then nodded.

“Yeah” he muttered, frowning deeply. Mat stared down at his own bowl, feeling a tingle course through his body.

“He’s put something in the food” Mat said, slight disappointment in his tone. He stirred his bowl of soup casually, letting his body naturally adjust to the sedative he could feel course through him. He had wondered why neither of them had become more active or planned some kind of escape after they had become much stronger. It was now clear that Joseph was keeping them sedated with each meal he fed them. It certainly wasn’t enough to make them sleep their days away, but it kept them docile.

Robert shrugged heavily, resuming his meal. “I’d rather eat and have the prospect of leaving this hell hole with good behavior than starve to death.”

Mat nodded, going back to his soup as well. It could have been the sedative talking, but Robert was making a lot of sense. Even if they decided not to eat, it wouldn’t change anything significant and the two would go hungry for no other reason than pride. Although their living was much more comfortable and accommodating, Joseph knew they wanted to leave and at this point, they were willing to compromise in order to do that.

_ So what if he’s doing this to us; it’s been much worse. _

Finishing their meals as per usual, Robert and Mat set aside their empty bowls to be collected later by Mary. Having enough of the hard floor, Mat stood up to stretch his legs for a moment. Robert sat quietly as he watched him move around the confined space, then finally settle back on his own bed. Despite their comfort levels rising, there wasn’t much else to really do. Joseph gave them a deck of cards and a book every now and again to read, but most days they had to rely on their own imagination to pass the time.

Today was different, however. Before the two could start up conversation, the distant sound of a door grabbed their attention. They listened as Joseph’s shoes clacked softly against the cement ground, the man appearing in few just a few seconds later.

“Good morning ~” Joseph greeted happily, earning a grimace from Robert and Mat. He leaned up against the bars, his smile as irritating as ever. “Today is the big day. You’ll finally get to go home again.”

“Right …” Robert said with a small huff. “I’m over the moon.”

Joseph chuckled, not bothering to comment on Robert’s snarky attitude. At this point, it didn’t matter to him what they said; Joseph had already accomplished all of what he wanted. “All that needs to happen now” he continued, “is for you both to have a nice little nap from your hearty breakfast. Then we can finally reintroduce you to the neighborhood.”

“We’re not tired” Robert muttered.

“Oh, you will be” Joseph corrected. “I made your breakfast a little extra special. It’s just to make this whole process a little easier for me to accomplish with little resistance.” Robert and Mat looked at each other, both of them shrugging in acceptance. It was a weird situation they found themselves in, and it wasn’t as if they could resist.

Without much surprise, it had only taken about 5 more minutes before Mat and Robert began to feel as if they hadn’t slept in years. Interrupting Joseph who was in the middle of describing something boring and inconsequential to them, Mat let out a loud yawn. “Hm?” Joseph said, raising an eyebrow with a smile. “Is it time?”

Mat gave him an exhausted look, but didn’t bother answering him. Laying in bed, he rolled over so that he was facing the wall behind him and it had only taken one more yawn before he fell into a deep sleep. Robert, on the other hand, didn’t even make it to his bed. Slouching down onto the ground, he growled out a small “fuck you” under his breath before passing out just the same. Joseph hummed excitedly; this was it.

…

Mat woke up, pleasantly rested, but having no idea what to expect. Rolling on his back, he grunted. The bed felt a little harder that usual and the lights above him seemed to burn through his closed eyelids.

“Hey, you’re awake.” A hand placed itself against his forehead, coaxing him to finally open his eyes. The light above was blocked by a figure looking down at him, their face not immediately clear to him. He reached up slowly, gripping the hand that lay on him.

“Rosa …?”

“What? No, it’s me, Robert. Who else would it be?”

Blinking a couple more times, his vision finally cleared and a very grumpy Robert was looking down at him, pulling his hand away. Much more awake at the sound of that gruff tone, Mat managed a small, embarrassed chuckle. “R-Right … sorry.”

“Sure, whatever” Robert rolled his eyes, giving Mat room to sit up and examine his surroundings. “The bastard moved us again. I dunno where to, but this definitely isn’t the same place.” He took a seat next to Mat.

“Yeah …” Mat agreed carefully. In contrast to their usual roomy cell, this time they were in a place twice as small and twice as grimy. There was one worn out bed and the only opening to the rest of the room was the cell door. The other three walls were made up of thick concrete, effectively making the fluorescent light above more intense and unbearable. “It’s definitely a shit place” Mat commented under his breath. “But we probably won’t be here long anyway.”

“Hm.”

“Did you see him when you woke up?”

Robert nodded. “He was watching us sleep, like usual. He told me he’d give us another half hour to sit around before he wanted to start taking us back to be ‘recoded’. Whatever the hell that means.”

Mat sighed, frowning a bit. “How long has it been since then?”

“Uh … Five minutes maybe? I’m not really sure.”

“I guess that’s enough time …” Mat trailed off, leaning his arms against his knees as his eyes traveled across the cracked floor. It wasn’t that interesting to look at, and it only took another minute for Mat to realize he wanted to do something else. He quietly got to his feet, the old mattress creaking loudly from the movement. Picking a nice spot, he leaned against one of the cold walls, his gaze still distant and thoughts somewhere unknown. Robert looked up at him, tilting his head a bit.

“You sure you don’t wanna just sit? It’s gonna be a while.”

Mat shook his head, declining. “I’ve sat around enough already. I want to stretch my legs.” Accepting his answer, Robert realized his own old man legs were getting pretty stiff as well. With a slightly strained huff, he got to his feet, resting against the wall next to Mat. Appreciating the company, Mat smiled softly at him before his gaze drifted off in another direction.

The pair went silent, occupying themselves with their own thoughts. Nowadays, Robert would recite everything he remembered in his head, keeping tabs on what he still could recall and hoping nothing else left him. Sometimes, he would think about his own family. Other times, he thought about Mat’s family. Today, with such short time ahead of them, he settled on the dream he had the night before. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, just of him traveling around the neighborhood like he used to do.

When his dream no longer passed the time, he quietly looked at Mat. He was still lost in thought and it was the first time in a while where Robert couldn’t guess what was on his mind.

_ He’s gotten better at this whole secrecy thing … I wonder … if it’s on purpose … ? _

“What’s up with you?” Robert finally asked, raising a curious eyebrow. “You’ve been quiet for too long.” Mat crossed his arms loosely, his eyes up on the ceiling.

“I’m just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About you.”

Robert blinked. “W-What?” he asked, unsure of how to feel. Mat took another long moment to answer, his expression somewhat content.

“I’m realizing that this is our last moments together, like this. Everything is going to change once Joseph finishes up with us and … we won’t have any of this back.”

“Yeah …” Robert muttered. “I guess it is.”

Mat turned, fully facing Robert. Taking the hint, Robert did the same, nervously waiting for Mat to continue. “I don’t know if … we’re ever going to see each other again” Mat sighed. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the closest person to me ever since we got thrown down here. I know that … if I remembered you, I may not have been so forgiving. From what you’ve told me, I wondered how we got along at all …” He paused, watching Robert shy away from embarrassment. “But … despite all of that, I forgive you. I forgive you because it’s the only thing I have control over. It’s the only thing that I’ve gotten to choose and if this is the last chance I’ll get to say anything meaningful, I want it to be my forgiveness.” Mat took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I forgive you, Robert. Honestly and wholeheartedly, I forgive you.”

Robert straightened up, feeling his heart skip a beat as Mat’s eyes searched his own. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed Mat’s face with both hands, leaned in and kissed him. It was a soft movement and Robert expected him to reel back and push him away. Instead, he felt Mat deepen the kiss, albeit somewhat lightly. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be this close to Mat and it had reminded him of the first night the two slept together. The sloppy kisses, the shy touches, the vulnerability. Even with the stench of alcohol covering them, Robert knew that he had fallen deeply and sincerely in love with Mat that night.

_ I don’t deserve this … What am I doing? _

He could feel Mat’s hands rest on either side of his hips, gripping them gently as he pulled their bodies closer. Their mouths never lost connection, Robert’s fingers gripping Mat’s face almost possessively as he begun to feverishly tasted the other man. But as Mat’s gentle fingers slide up against his bare sides, Robert was suddenly struck with a feeling of guilt. Without much warning, he broke their kiss and pulled back entirely. Mat blinked in surprise, letting him go and watching him with confusion. Robert took a few steps back, his body still tingling from the rush of affection.

“Are you … okay?” Mat asked, his brow furrowing. “I didn’t … ?”

Robert shook his head quickly, wondering if this was at all the right thing to do or if he just completely ruined his chance. “N-No, it’s not you. It’s just … This … doesn’t really mean anything … does it?”

Mat frowned. “Robert … what’s wrong?”

Robert’s mouth opened and closed, trying to decide on his answer. He knew he could have just shrugged it off and run back into Mat’s arms. It would have been so easy, but he found himself tired of his lies. These were there last moments together; he had to keep being truthful. “I’m scared.”

Mat let out a short chuckle, unsure of what Robert meant. “Of what?” he asked. Robert growled softly, not used to the nervous dread coursing through him. “Tell me,” Mat insisted gently when he didn’t get an answer right away.

Robert bit his lip, running a hand nervously through his hair. “... I’m scared of when your memories come back. If they do … I’m scared of what you’ll think of me.” Robert looked down at the ground and as thoughts formed in his head, he let out a strange laugh. It was as if he was holding back a heavy sadness. “I-I love you …” He said carefully, looking back up to lock eyes with a very stunned Mat. “I love you so fucking much … and I’m scared that one day, this is gonna bite me in the ass and you’ll shut me out forever.”

Mat stood quietly, mulling over his words. He wanted to protest and assure Robert that he would think well of him regardless of the situation. But even that thought felt forced. Neither of them knew what was going to happen and Mat couldn’t be entirely sure of how he would react once everything came back to him. If it ever did. He came up with the only reply that seemed to be the least threatening. “What do you want me to do?”

Robert’s expression fell, giving way to a look that Mat had never remembered seeing on him before. A broken man was standing before him. Hesitating, Robert spoke in a slow whisper. “Just once … even if it isn’t sincere … I want to hear you say you love me too. That’s all.”

Without thought, Mat could feel his legs move. He approached Robert, reaching up to cup the man’s rugged face gently. His thumbs stroked gently against Robert’s somewhat sunken cheeks, and he briefly looked down at his lips. “I love you”, he said gently.

Robert searched his eyes, expecting to see clear insincerity. But the more they stared at each other, the harder it was for Robert to decipher the truth. Finally, he gave up. Letting his shoulders droop with emotional and physical weight, he quietly leaned forward, resting his forehead against the crook of Mat’s neck. His arms hung loosely at his side and all he could hear was the faint beating of their hearts. Neither said a word and in that moment, it was enough.

…

The last 15 minutes left them and Joseph finally returned, smiling as usual. “Well” he began, looking the other two over. “Who’s first?”

“I’ll go” Mat said quickly, stopping any protest from Robert with a weary look. Stepping out of the cell, he was immediately cuffed by Joseph. He figured Joseph did it to try and scare them, but all Mat could really think about was keeping his eyes forward.

He didn’t want to look back at Robert. It would hurt too much.

Listening to the cell door close and lock, he let Joseph lead him out of the room with a hand gripping his arm somewhat loosely. The two walked through a long hallway, dimly lit by yellowed lights. At the end of it, they turned left through a door and into what looked like a cramped laboratory. Machines hummed, lights blinked and in the center was an operating table that was neatly made.

_ Fun. _

Joseph waved to the table, Mat already figuring that’s where he wanted him to be. Laying down, Mat had to turn his head away from the bright light that stared down at him. “Sorry about that” Joseph hummed, turning it off before securing Mat down against the table. His ankles and wrists were held in place with metal binds and his head was soon fitted with what felt like a metal cap. “This won’t take too long” Joseph said, fiddling with Mat’s shirt in order to attach a few wires to his chest. “You’ll be out of here in no time. The longest part is putting all these on you.” The adhesive felt cold and Mat couldn’t help but shiver. Several more were attached around his temple, along with some kind of neck brace that kept his head still. With limited movement, Mat could only really look upwards, but it wasn’t like it really mattered.

“What’s going to happen?” he asked, his expression somewhat flat. Despite his current position, Mat couldn’t find much to be afraid of anymore. Whatever was going to happen would end his imprisonment and even if he wasn’t himself anymore, at least he was going to be free.

“With any luck” Joseph said, moving out of his view to adjust a few wires, “All your memories of being down here will be permanently wiped in a single go. Any pesky ones will be forcefully repressed through further correction and you will finally become a host to whatever I decide to put inside you and keep dormant until I need it again.”

He frowned, trying to ignore the idea of holding secret memories for Joseph to use at his will. “Will there be anything I remember?”

“You’ll remember your family, your home and your usual schedule” Joseph said, tapping his chin in thought. “But that’s about it. It’ll be as if you’ve moved to Maple Bay for the first time. Nothing that’s happened will remain. At least, that is the goal.”

“How convenient for you” Mat said with a slight snark in his tone. Joseph chuckled lightly.

“Is that an attitude I hear? My my, Robert must have finally rubbed off on you.”

Mat sighed, but otherwise stayed quiet. He lay still as Joseph moved around him, making sure  everything was working properly. Mat couldn’t help but assume this was all trial and error with Joseph and he wondered if his plan would actually work. So far it seemed that way, so there was a high chance this last step would work as well.

_ Maybe if I believe enough, my memories will stay with me,  _ he thought to himself, snorting softly.  _ How cliche. _

A few minutes of tinkering passed and finally Joseph appeared back in Mat’s view, smiling down at him. “Ready?’

Mat let out a small breath. “As if I have a choice.”

“Hm, good boy ~” Out of Mat’s view, he approached what seemed to be the main machine. Turning a few dials and punching in a few numbers on a keypad, Joseph seemed ready to start. With a hand on the final trigger, Joseph suddenly paused, thinking for a moment before pulling away from the machine. “You know,” he started slowly. “This is going to be the last time you’re going to ever remember any of this. I feel as if I owe you some clarity.”

Mat slowly raised an eyebrow, hesitating. “...what do you mean?”

Joseph hummed, that irritating smile crossing his features once more. “Craig is a good man. Too good sometimes, but good nonetheless. Hell would freeze over before he would even consider doing anything even remotely sinful.” He paused briefly to watch Mat’s slightly confused expression.

“I don’t follow” Mat muttered, silently hoping that his last pure memory wasn’t just going to be of Joseph rambling.

“Remind me again of that night” Joseph asked softly. Mat grimaced.

“Why?”

“Humor me.”

Biting back yet another snarky comment, Mat did as he was told. “I brought Craig to my place after he got wasted. I let him sleep on my couch and in the middle of the night he raped me. Happy?”

Joseph hummed. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”

“Y-Yes” Mat suddenly felt himself hesitating, something in the back of his mind telling him there was something else he was missing. He shifted nervously underneath his binds. “Every time you’ve asked me to tell you, it’s always been the same thing.”

Joseph nodded solemnly. “Indeed … but I have to admit, even though you’ve been consistent with your recollection, I can’t say I agree with you … that’s not what I remember happening.”

Mat growled under his breath. “What the hell are you talking about? You weren’t there.”

Joseph laughed again, fully irritating Mat. “Oh Matthew ~” Joseph said sweetly, reaching down to brush his fingers against Mat’s cheek. “Of course I was there. You just don’t remember.”

Mat could feel his stomach churn, his mouth twitching slightly as he tried to move his face away from Joseph. “What are you talking about?” he asked softly, not at all wanting to hear the answer.

Joseph looked pleased with himself. “I watched you that night as you pulled a very drunk Craig out of your car and into your home. I had to sneak around for a while, but I kept my eyes on you until you finally returned to your room. I waited at least an hour just to be sure you were truly asleep before I made my move.”

Mat’s mouth went dry, his eyes widening as Joseph continued. “Breaking into your home was pretty easy and I made sure not to leave any indication that I had damaged your front door. Of course the first thing I saw was Craig, well and truly passed out on your couch and snoring like you wouldn’t believe. I could have fired a shotgun next to his ear and that man wasn’t about to flutter an eye. So I knew I had time to snoop around just a bit before getting to work. You certainly know how to decorate your home, Mat. I could even see that it rubbed off on your daughter when I found her room ...”

“What did you do?” Mat asked automatically, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. “If you put your hands on her …”

“Oh no, I would never!” Joseph put his hand to his heart, shocked. “I may be many things, but I’m not a monster. I just had a little peek from the door and left it at that. Nothing more.” Mat didn’t at all look pleased with the answer, but Joseph waved it off. “Anyway, I quickly got bored and decided to get to the point. I crept in and managed to close the door behind me without waking you. I’m going to be honest, watching you sleep … it had almost made me feel like I had missed out on a physical relationship with you. Everything about you in that moment was soft and innocent … truly euphoric. I thought to myself, I could take this man right here and now.”

Mat could feel himself become nauseous from the monologue, his mind slowly connecting the dots and a heavy sense of dread weighing in his mind. “What did you do?” he asked again. Without answering right away, Joseph reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar vial. He shone it in the light, admiring it like it was his greatest achievement.

“I’ve kept my eye on you for sometime, Sella. The moment you moved into the neighborhood, I couldn’t help but feel like you were going to be important to me in the very close future. But I couldn't make my move yet. I had to wait for things to work out in my favor before I could set my plans in motion. Then, my patience was finally rewarded when your wife passed away. Now I’ll be the first to admit, it was a sad day. I truly wept for her just as the rest of the neighborhood did and I allowed myself some time to pray for her and your family.”

Mat grit his teeth, tired of Joseph’s dramatic behavior. Seemingly taking the hint, Joseph moved on with his monologue. “It had taken a while, getting everything ready for you. I was so close to being done, when that brainless jock moved into the neighborhood. Of course, I thought nothing of him until you two started to become a little too smitten for my liking. Now, I was a gentleman and I let you both have your fun for a little while. But that night, I decided I had enough of it and I needed to intervene.”

Examining the vial for just a little longer, Joseph moved over to one of several hanging IV bags connected to the entire apparatus. Mat couldn’t tell if any or all of them were attached to him as well, watching helplessly as Joseph drained a bit of the vial into each of them via a syringe. “I’ll admit, it was a bit of a reckless decision” Joseph resumed his story. “My serum wasn’t where I needed it to be, so I wasn’t sure if it would even work or what the side effects would be. But I had to have faith in my skill.” He suddenly turned to Mat, getting much too close too quickly. He reached over, his hand brushing down slowly against Mat’s neck. Mat shrugged his shoulder, trying to get Joseph to stop touching him to no avail.

Joseph laughed.

“It was a quick administration. You barely woke up, even with the pain of a needle being jabbed into your neck. But as careful as I was, you still managed to be a little more conscious once I straddled you. It was a bit of a struggle, trying to get you to stop moving so much, but eventually the serum worked its magic. You started to slur your words, your movements became weaker and eventually you just laid there, allowing me to do whatever I wanted, even if you were still semi conscious.” Joseph paused, watching all the color drain from Mat’s face at the revelation. “Do you remember now?” he asked, his voice a soft whisper. “Craig wasn’t the one who raped you. It was me.”

Mat had to do everything in his power not to throw up right then and there. His whole body trembled, the foggy memory of that night suddenly twisted from Joseph’s words. He had believed so long that Craig had been the one that had hurt him. Believed that the one man he had begun to truly love had hurt him. “Y-You made me -”

“I didn’t make you do anything” Joseph cut in, his smile still present. “I just drugged you enough to take advantage of you. You filled in the rest of the blanks with the help of the only clear memory you had before I showed up; you bringing Craig home just a few hours before.”

“W-What about the clock? H-His head wound?”

“Oh, you certainly tried to defend yourself” Joseph nodded. “You grabbed your clock and whacked me across the shoulder with it. Hurt like a bitch, but the only real damage done was to the clock. I imagine you remembered hitting someone with it, but couldn’t put any pieces together until you saw Cahn’s head wound. As for that, he fell at one point in the night and gave himself a nasty gash. Thanks to you, it seems to have healed quite nicely.”

“T-That … that doesn’t make sense … m-my memory …”

“Manipulated, at best” Joseph said, nodding somewhat solemnly. “A tragic side effect of the serum. Not only did you mix up the order of events, you created new ones to fill in the gaps. No doubt you also managed to lose time entirely as well. It’s impossible for me to know how long these effects lasted after that night, but I’m sure you can think back and recall them on your own.”

Joseph moved away from him, returning to the machine. Mat struggled against his binds, trying to keep his eyes on Joseph, but to no avail. “And to think I’ve allowed Craig to walk this earth thinking he had anything to do with it.” He chuckled darkly, the memory amusing to him. “But that’s all irrelevant in the here and now.” Savoring the moment, he gave Mat one long, longing look before activating the machine.

“Welcome to the neighborhood ~”

…

He groaned, keeping his eyes shut tightly as he rolled on his side to avoid the harsh sunlight. The bed creaked under his weight and it didn’t take long before he dozed off once more. He didn’t get much sleep this time however, earning only about 15 more minutes before his phone buzzed gently on the nightstand. Sighing, he groggily reached over and turned it off.

“Fine …” he muttered, a long yawn escaping his mouth as he sat up in bed. Blinking his eyes open, he quietly focused on his surroundings for a moment before getting out of bed.

It was a quiet weekend, so Mat really didn’t have much on the agenda except to run a few errands. Stepping into the shower, he let the hot water wash over him and he groaned deeply. “What the hell happened yesterday …?” he wondered out loud as his shoulders and back ached almost painfully underneath the heat. It was an unfamiliar pain, but he decided not to dwell on it too much and chalked it up to simply falling asleep at a weird angle.

An hour or two later, Mat had finished washing up and had finally gotten dressed. Letting out another stray yawn, he headed to the kitchen and began to cook breakfast. Checking his watch, he figured Carmen wouldn’t be up for another hour, which gave him time to cook up something a little more intricate than a bowl of cereal. He knew how much she liked his special breakfasts, so he tried to do them as often as possible. Or at the very least, once a week.

“Ugh …” he muttered out loud, brushing off some dust from the counter. “When was the last time I cleaned this place …?” His gaze wandered around the kitchen, catching all the dust that lay on shelves and tabletops. He wasn’t particularly clean, but he didn’t like having anything go without a good wipe down every once in a while. It made the air fresher and made the house feel less stuffy overall. He made a mental note to give the house a good dusting off later that day.

Fifteen minutes later, Mat placed two plates full of eggs, bacon, toast and cheese on the dining table. Moving back to the refrigerator to grab some fresh squeezed orange juice, he checked his watch once more. “Huh …” he said underneath his breath, raising an eyebrow. “Carmen should have been up by now …” He contemplated for a moment; he could have just eaten breakfast and saved her plate for her later, but he knew she would have been upset if he had went ahead without her, even if she wanted to sleep in. Being the good dad that he was, he made his way to her bedroom door and knocked.

“Honey …?” he called, pressing his ear to the door to catch her response. A silence followed, Mat knocking once more just in case. When she didn’t answer, he invited himself inside. Her room was as neat as it ever was, but as he approached her bed he realized she wasn’t there. He furrowed his brow, his heart beating just a little faster. He couldn’t remember agreeing to let her spend the night anywhere else, nor did she tell him she would have things to do early in the morning. By all accounts, she should have been home.

Spending the next ten minutes checking the rest of the house just in case he merely didn’t hear her wake up, Mat realized he was alone. Standing in the middle of the living room, Mat pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

She answered before the first ring had finished.

“D-Dad?!” she shrieked, Mat flinching in surprise. “Dad is that you?!”

“Y-Yeah of course. Honey, where -”

“Where are you?! Are you okay?!”

Mat frowned; it sounded like she was crying. “I’m … I’m home. Carmen, what’s wrong? Are you -” He could hear her phone move then suddenly he was disconnected. He quickly looked at the screen, too stunned to properly react. Before he could redial, he could hear faint footsteps approaching the front door. They were short and quick and his mind immediately told him it was Carmen. He watched as she unlocked the front door in record time, swung it open and stood still, breathless. “C-Carmen?” he asked, watching heavy tears fall down her red face.

Taking a deep breath, she screamed and ran at him, her small body slamming into his and almost knocking them both down from the force. Mat automatically knelt down, putting his arms around her as he felt her sobbing against his chest. “Honey, what happened!? What’s going on!?” he asked, not at all understanding the situation. He had never seen Carmen so upset before and couldn’t understand the odd turn of events.

Carmen pulled away to look up at him, her confused expression mimicking his own. “W-What are you talking about?” she hiccuped between sobs. “I thought you died!”

“W-What? Honey no, that's not ...”

His thought was interrupted when a heavier set of footsteps suddenly approached the front door once again. Looking up, he watched an out of breath man stumble into the house, his eyes automatically searching Carmen. “Baby girl, what happened?!” the man said frantically.

Mat and the man locked eyes, staring at each other. Then, the man suddenly made a beeline for him.

Alarm bells going off in his head, Mat quickly scooped up Carmen in his arms and took a step back. The other man didn’t seem to notice and managed to grab him and pull him into a tight bear hug. “You’re … you’re alive!” he could hear the man say over his shoulder. Mat grunted as a response, quickly shoving him off to create space. Although he could feel the man’s immense strength, he seemed to let go quite easily.

“Who are you?” Mat demanded, stepping back until he hit the wall behind him, Carmen held securely in his arms. The man went still, furrowing his brow as he registered what Mat had said.

“What … what do you mean?” he said meekly.

“Who the hell are you?” Mat asked again harshly. “Why were you following my daughter?” A few long seconds passed as he watched the man struggle with a response.

“I - Mat please” he said, taking a slight step forward. “This isn’t funny. I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“I don’t know you” Mat said, his words sharp and short.

“Craig!” the man blurted out quickly. “It’s me, Craig! How do you not remember?”

“Because you don’t look familiar to me.”

“W-What … ?”

Carmen wiggled frantically out of Mat’s arms, taking a few steps away from him. “Dad …” she said, her small body still shaking from the adrenaline. “Dad do you … do you really not remember him …?”

Mat sighed heavily, growling under his breath in frustration. “No honey, I don’t.” he articulated carefully. “I don’t know who this man is or why he’s standing in our living room. I have absolutely no damn clue what the hell is going on.”

“Where are we?!” Carmen asked quickly. Mat frowned deeply, but went along with her question.

“We’re home.”

“No, the neighborhood! What’s the name of the neighborhood!”

“I - Carmen, I don’t know the answer to that.”

“What about your neighbors?” Craig asked quietly, keeping his distance. Mat looked over at him, irritation still on his face. “Do you know any of their names?”

“I don’t recall.”

Carmen went silent, she and Craig sharing a quiet look of fear. Mat held up his hands in frustration, shaking his head. “Okay … I’ve had enough of this” He approached the other man. “You need to leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere” Craig said automatically.

“Excuse me?”

“Dad, stop it!” Carmen suddenly shrieked, clenching her fists in frustration. “What happened you?!”

“Carmen I already told you -”

“No! That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Carmen!” Mat said sharply, immediately silencing her. He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. “Carmen” he started again, this time much quieter. “Honey … I don’t know what’s going on and none of your questions are helping. Okay?”

“You disappeared three months ago” Craig cut in quickly. Mat frowned, looking at him as he continued. “You and I … we had gone out on a walk and after I had left, you vanished. No one knew where you went and the entire neighborhood was worried you had been murdered.”

“That’s ridiculous” Mat said, a hint of nervousness in his tone. “Why don’t I recognize you then?” Craig furrowed his brow, unable to come up with an answer and merely shrugged helplessly. “Well if you can’t prove anything to me, then I have no reason to believe a complete stranger.”

“O-Of course I can prove it!” Craig said, a sudden rush of adrenaline coming to him. “I-I know your name is Mat Sella. You work at the Coffee Spoon. Your only daughter is named Carmen, you had a wife named Rosa -”

“What? How did you -”

“You used to be part of a band, your favorite thing to bake is banana bread, your phone number is 617 46-”

“S-Stop!” Craig was cut off as Mat suddenly shoved him back, creating distance between them. Carmen stepped back, muffling a yelp with her hands over her mouth. The room went quiet, Mat staring in quiet fear at Craig.

“Please, Mat …” Craig whispered, trying not to remember the last time Mat had given him that kind of look. “You … you have to believe me … something’s happened to your memory and … you’ve forgotten.”

Mat swallowed thickly, his heart beating at a quicker and quicker pace. He looked down at his hands, watching them tremble with anxiety and uncertainty. “I … forgot?”

Carmen reached out, touching the hem of his jacket. “Dad …?”

Mat looked down at her and suddenly, he felt trapped.

“I-I have to go” he said quickly, a ringing in his ears blocking out anything that Carmen or Craig were saying. Feeling the room spin, he turned on his heel and disappeared quickly into the bathroom, unintentionally slamming the door behind him.

Carmen and Craig stood in shock and it took all of Carmen’s strength not to run into the bathroom with her dad to make sure he was alright. Instead, she simply stood in the living room with Craig for what felt like hours. Finally, her anxiety got the better of her and she spoke up. “... W-What do we do?” She asked softly, wringing her hands nervously.

Craig narrowed his eyes in thought, his heart still thumping hard against his rib cage. Trying to swallow the dryness out of his throat, he formed a response. “We wait for him to be okay. That’s all we can do right now.”

She looked up at him, unsure of what to think of the simple answer. “And … after that?”

“... We start over.”

Carmen mulled over his words, nodding slowly in agreement. With nothing else left, the pair sat heavily on the couch and waited.


End file.
